A cyclist who terrorised lone women by slapping their bottoms as he rode his bicycle was spared jail by a judge today after a court heard he was "cripplingly shy" and unable to cope in prison.

Constantin Barbutu, 22, would don a hoodie and ride up behind women who were walking, running or cycling alone in Brighton before smacking or groping them, leaving them angry and living in fear.

The Romanian dish washer escaped a prison sentence when he appeared in Hove Crown Court because a judge felt he was so "severely intellectually impaired" he would not cope behind bars.

Initially denying 21 charges of sexual assault, Barbutu pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial to crimes against 11 women.

Handing him a 12-month suspended sentence and ordering him to complete 40 days of rehabilitation with probation, Judge David Rennie said: "Were it not for the fact that two experts agree that you do have severely impaired intellectual functioning you would be going straight to prison today. However you do have these very real problems.