A MAN who carried out a string of sex attacks on young girls has been jailed for nine months.

Kevin Wells, 21, of Claire Avenue, Hoole, was said to have 'a sexual fascination with teenage girls' which led him to commit six offences on four girls aged between 14 and 16.

On Monday, Chester Crown Court heard three of Wells' victims were targeted while they waited at bus stops in the city centre.

Brendan Anderson, prosecuting, said the charges related to attacks on June 27, August 23, September 9, October 10, November 18 and December 4 last year.

Judge Stephen Clarke heard that Wells, formerly of School Lane, Elton, selected his victims, none of whom can be named for legal reasons, before approaching them and putting his hand up their skirts.

Mr Anderson said that two of the victims were assaulted by Wells, who has no previous convictions and has not committed any other offence since his arrest, on two separate occasions.

Wells was caught on January 16 this year after one of his victims, the girl involved in the fourth and sixth attacks, spotted him in Foregate Street, Chester.

'She phoned the police from her mobile phone and then phoned her brother who came and waited with her until the police arrived,' said Mr Anderson.

'The police arrived and she was able to point the defendant out and he was arrested.'

Wells was picked out of an identity parade by a number of his victims but initially denied the offences. He was due to stand trial on September 11 but changed his pleas to guilty on the morning of the case.

Jailing him, Judge Clarke said he would be given credit for his pleas as it saved the victims having to relive the attacks in court.

But he added: 'They all took place in public and all took the form of you putting your hand up their skirts and touching the upper thigh, all in public where you could be caught at any moment.

'If viewed individually, they might not be seen as major incidents but when looked at collectively a different pattern emerges.'

He told Wells that only a prison sentence would fit the crimes and ordered him to sign on the sex offenders' register for seven years.

John Philpotts, defending, said: 'These must have been appalling experiences and I make that clear from the outset. But unfortunately there are a lot more serious cases than this.

'These are not the most serious cases, but that is not to suggest they were not for the victims.'

He said Wells never intended to frighten his victims and added the offences were impulsive.

'This is a young man who has worked since he left school, not somebody biding his time,' said Mr Philpotts.