A MAN convicted of sexually assaulting two young women made rude gestures towards them when he saw them passing in a car.

Marc Doyle gesticulated towards his two victims on the A82 near its junction with the A810 at Hardgate on May 23.

The 28-year-old had been granted bail at Dumbarton Sheriff Court earlier the same day, with a specific condition he must not contact or communicate with either witness.

Doyle’s solicitor, Anne Bolger, told the court last Friday that her client had been handed a community payback order as punishment for the sexual assault charge.

The order included three years of supervision and 300 hours of unpaid work – the maximum permitted by law – as well as a six-month restriction of liberty order.

Ms Bolger told Sheriff John Hamilton: “I appreciate that [sentence] limits your Lordship’s options but he is in employment and could pay a fine.”

Sheriff Hamilton replied: “He drove past the complainers he had been convicted of sexually assaulting, while these young women were in a car with their parents.

“It was a deliberate act on his part, and the only inference I can take from his interaction is that it was an attempt to intimidate them.

Click here for all the latest news from Clydebank and the surrounding areas

“The fact these girls were able to speak up is no thanks to him, and I’m not convinced a monetary penalty is an option.”

Doyle, of John Street in Kirkintilloch, was ordered to be of good behaviour for six months, and told if he stays out of trouble and complies with his CPO until then, when he returns to court in March he can expect more unpaid work.

“He may not think so, but what he did was extremely serious,” the sheriff added.