A ‘DISGRACEFUL’ sex attacker who tried to force himself on a pregnant woman on a train has been detained in hospital indefinitely.

Gary Taylor admitted indecently touching his 30-year-old victim and forcing her hand down his trousers on a train from Wareham to Weymouth.

He was sentenced at Dorchester Crown Court to a section 37 hospital order, which means he will be detained until doctors are satisfied he is fit to return to society.

Taylor’s sentencing had been adjourned for the preparation of a psychiatric report, which raised serious concerns over his mental health and suggested if he were sent to prison there would be a high risk of him reoffending after release.

Judge Roger Jarvis had already heard how Taylor first approached the pregnant woman as she waited for a train at Wareham station on Sunday May 2.

He asked her if she wanted to have sex with him and she told him ‘no’.

Detective Constable Phil Bibbings, of British Transport Police, described how Taylor then approached the woman again on the train.

He said: “The victim boarded a Weymouth-bound service and sat down but Taylor followed and sat opposite her, despite an abundance of empty seats nearby.

“After again asking the woman for sex, Taylor leant over the table and indecently assaulted her before moving to sit next to her, trapping her up against the window.

“He then tried to touch her indecently again before grabbing one of her hands and forcing it down his trousers.”

When the woman forced him away and locked herself in the toilet, Taylor waited outside for her to come out.

She contacted her partner, who met her at Weymouth station and contacted the train guard – which led to Taylor’s arrest.

Taylor, 49, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to charges of causing a female to engage in sexual activity without her consent and sexual assault.

Mary Aspinall-Miles, mitigating, urged the judge to go along with the recommendation in a pre-sentence report to impose the hospital order and said a suitable available bed was available for her client.

Judge Jarvis told the defendant: “These matters that you have to answer for were by any measure disgraceful.

“One can understand very well how she may well have long term effects as a consequence of your behaviour to her.”

The judge added: “It is clear that you are a man with serious mental health problems.

“I’m persuaded that, rather than sentence you to prison today, the best course for the community is for you to receive help in hospital.”

Judge Jarvis also placed Taylor on the sex offenders register for a notification period of seven years.

n harry.hogger@dorsetecho.co.uk