A SEX pest is behind bars after a judge said his criminal career has taken a "worrying" turn with attacks on two women in one night.

Convicted burglar and shoplifter Shaun Bate struck twice within three hours and left one victim saying: "I keep asking myself why me?"

The 24-year-old said in a statement to court: "Nobody deserves to go through what I am going through . . . It is all down to this man.

"I don't think there was any reason other than a selfish man who could not keep his hands to himself. He clearly has no respect for women."

Teesside Crown Court heard how Bate, 28, approached the woman as she left Bar Cuda in Middlesbrough town centre alone at about 1am.

As she was waiting for a taxi, Bate asked if she was okay and said he would look after her, prosecutor Laurie Scott told the court.

Without warning, he reached across and touched her between the legs. The cab arrived, she jumped in, and told the driver what had happened.

The police were alerted and Bate was arrested nearby in Albert Road, where he told officers: "She touched me. I want to make a complaint."

He was linked to an earlier attack at a bus stop when he put his arm under a teenager's jacket and around her waist, Miss Scott said.

He told the 19-year-old: "Women need to be dominated. Women need to be taken control of, and need to be penetrated properly and vigorously."

Judge Stephen Ashurst jailed Bate, of Yarm Road, Stockton, for 18 months and put him on the sex offenders' register for the next ten years.

Judge Ashurst told him: "You have a troubling history. You have an extensive record that goes back many years for a variety of offences.

"What you did on this occasion is a worrying variation on your normal offending pattern. I am concerned about the risk factors in your case."

Paul Abrahams said Bate, who has 73 earlier convictions, struggles to adapt whenever he is freed from prison, with his itinerant lifestyle.

"He has grandiose ideas as to where he sees his life, and tends to run before he can walk," Mr Abrahams said. "He causes chaos on release.

"He comes out frustrated, expects it will all come right on day one, and isn't giving it sufficient time for authorities to work with him."

In her statement, the second victim said: "Before this happened, I was an outgoing, confident young woman. The world was my oyster.

"I feel now my life has been turned upside down, and it is difficult to cope with minimal things . . . I am worried about my safety.

"It has been difficult for my partner, watching me turn into the fragile woman I have become. I have not been back to work since this.

"Sleeping properly is nothing short of a distant memory. I now wake every other hour with the night of the incident replaying over in my head."