A male masseur sexually assaulted a female customer on a massage table before asking her out for a drink, a court heard.

The married woman in her 30s reported Mohamed El-Alfie, 34, to police but he was not prosecuted until more than two years later after an alleged assault on another woman.

Isleworth Crown Court heard the two alleged attacks took place while El-Alfie, of Hammersmith, was working as a self-employed massage therapist.

He has pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexually assaulting the first woman in September 2012 and one count in relation to the second woman in January last year.

Prosecutor Alisdair Smith said the first complainant, a married woman in her late thirties who cycles to her job in the West End, specifically booked El-Alfie for a sports massage at the Happiness Centre, Uxbridge Road, Shepherd’s Bush.

He told the court: “While massaging her buttocks he asked her to take her knickers off and she was surprised that instead of allowing her to remove them he pulled her knickers down himself.”

The jury heard that the woman told the defendant: “No, I don’t think so. If I wanted that sort of massage I wouldn’t be here. Do it again and I’ll report you.”

Mr Smith said: “He asked her if she had a boyfriend and she said she was married. He asked her if she wanted to go for a drink.”

The woman told the jury. “He was very close, I could hear his heavy breathing. It was not accidental.

“He shrugged and smirked as if to say: ‘I’ve tried it on. What are you making a fuss about?’”

The second assault is alleged to have taken place 28 months later when a second woman was visiting the spa at the Hilton Hotel in Syon Park with her daughter.

El-Alfie was arrested and again denied the claims.

The trial continues.