A SEX attacker was able to molest a semi-conscious woman for an hour in a city centre while pedestrians walked past without intervening.

Adrian Jagodzinzki was seen on CCTV partially stripping the drunken woman just yards from Exeter Cathedral and trying to get her to give him oral sex.

The footage showed he started his sex attack on a bench just off Cathedral Green at 11.40pm by trying to kiss her. She was so drunk that she fell over as she tried to escape his clutches. 

By 12.19 am, the pair had moved to nearby South Street where he was seen thrusting his hand down her trousers and assaulting when she appeared to be unconscious. CCTV operators noted people walking past on the busy street and apparently ignoring what was going on. 

Jagodzinzki pulled down her trousers, undid his own, and tried to pull her towards him before she regained consciousness and sat up. The sex assault only ended when police arrived to rescue her at 12.49 am.

She had drunk a bottle of vodka and some whisky before meeting homeless street drinker Jagodzinzki near the 12th century cathedral late on the evening of March 2 this year.

Police called an ambulance to take her to hospital after they arrested Jagodzinzki and she woke up the next day with no memory of what had happened. 

She read out a tearful victim impact statement at Exeter Crown Court which said she was so traumatised by her ordeal that she has been unable to work since and spends most of her time as a prisoner in her own home.

Jagodzinzki, aged 52, of no fixed address, admitted attempted rape and assault by penetration and was jailed for five years and seven Months by Judge Anna Richardson.

She told him: 'There is evidence that you were not thinking rationally, given that you were doing what you were doing in full view of the public, who could be seen walking past on the CCTV footage.

'She was particularly vulnerable due to her intoxication. I accept you are remorseful and were horrified by what you did when you were shown the CCTV and that this was not pre-planned.'

Miss Mary McCarthy, prosecuting, said city centre CCTV operators alerted police when they saw the woman being sexually assaulted and were able to look back at earlier footage which showed him trying to kiss her and her leaning away so far that she fell backwards.

The sexual assault in which he put his hand down her trousers lasted five minutes and left her in great pain the next day. He pulled down her trousers at one stage and exposed himself as he tried to get her to perform oral sex on him. 

In her personal statement, which she read from behind a screen in the witness box, she said: 'I have been hiding away from family and friends because I feel ashamed and fell like it was my fault. 

'I can’t do normal things like going out. I just lock myself away. It has made me question if I will ever want to have an intimate relationship again. I feel helpless and have lost my confidence and self-esteem. I feel very isolated.'

Mr Brian Fitzherbert, defending, said Jagodzinzki had no memory of what he had done and was horrified when he was shown the CCTV by police. He has long standing problems with alcohol and substance abuse and had taken a new drug that night for the first time.

|He has been diagnosed as having alcohol-related brain damage and is in poor health after many years of homelessness. He doubts whether he will survive a long jail sentence.