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An Edinburgh man has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register after being found guilty of groping two women.

John Gerard, 35, grabbed one young woman from behind before grinding his groin into her while the pair worked together at an Edinburgh Fringe show in 2018.

Gerard also intentionally touched the bottom of a duty manager as he squeezed past the woman behind the bar at a popular capital restaurant in 2021.

Gerard, from of the city’s Wester Hailes, stood trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month after denying the two sex assaults but was found guilty by a sheriff.

The first woman, in her mid 20s, told the court she was working at an Edinburgh Fringe show at a venue in the city’s Grassmarket area in August 2018. She told the court Gerard was employed as a security guard at the venue and they had briefly chatted after meeting for the first time that evening.

She said she was speaking to one of the performers when Gerard walked up behind her and after placing his hands on her hips he began “grinding his groin” into her.

The woman said: “I was standing dancing and speaking to one of the acts at the time. Someone grabbed my hips and began grinding into me. He had his hands on my hips and slightly pulled me back into him.

“It was really, really close contact and his groin area made contact with my bum. I was in shock and I turned around and he stopped. He then walked away and looked like he was laughing.”

She told the court the incident made her feel “confused and shocked” and since then she suffers from “paranoia and anxiety” while out in large groups. The second victim told the court she was working as a duty manager at an Edinburgh restaurant and Gerard was employed in the kitchen when he assaulted her in November 2021.

She said Gerard had attempted to squeeze past her behind the bar and had reached down and “grabbed and squeezed” her bottom. The woman, who is in her early 20s, told the court Gerard “put his left hand behind me and placed his hand on my bum and squeezed”.

She added: “He would not have grabbed it if it was not intentional. I told a colleague and it didn’t surprise her in all honesty.”

The victim reported the assault to the restaurant owner and the sleazy kitchen worker was sacked from his employment.

Gerard did not give evidence in his defence and after deliberating for around 30 minutes Sheriff Derek O’Carroll found him guilty of both offences.

Sentence had been deferred for reports and Gerard returned to the court for sentencing on Friday where Sheriff O’Carroll placed him in the Sex Offenders Register for two years.

Gerard was also placed on a supervision order for two years and told he must carry out 250 hours of unpaid work in the community within nine months

Gerard was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman by standing behind her and placing his hands on her hips and gyrating against her at a premises at Grassmarket, Edinburgh, between August 1 and 31, 2018.

He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting a second woman by seizing her buttocks without consent at a restaurant in Edinburgh on November 27, 2021.

Edinburgh crime: John Gerard found guilty of sexually assaulting two women in Edinburgh