TWO teenage girls standing naked in a cubicle at Waves water centre in Blackburn looked down to see a man looking at them under the dividing wall.

Blackburn magistrates heard Kuwaiti asylum seeker Mahmudbahar Al-Anizi had been watching the girls while they were in the pool and had followed them to the changing cubicles.

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And he later told police he had been missing his wife and children who are living in India.

Al-Anizi, 30, of the Islington Motel, Great Bolton Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to observing another person doing a private act knowing that person did not consent to being observed for his sexual gratification.

He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report and made subject to requirements of the Sex Offender Register.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said the girls, 16 and 17, had been at Waves on January 14 and noticed the defendant staring at them.

When they got out they went to a cubicle to change.

The cubicle next to theirs was taped off so nobody should have been using it.

“They had both undressed and were talking while they dried off because they had forgotten their towels,” said Miss Allan.

“They noticed a shadow on the floor and then saw a man looking up at them.”

One of the girls screamed and Al-Anizi was detained by staff until the police arrived.

Al-Anizi later told police he had been drinking before going for a swim.

He said he had seen a girl he was attracted to and admitted following her and her friend and going into the cubicle next to them.

Miss Allan said Al-Anizi had been served with a deportation notice.

Bridget Hibbert, defending, said Al-Anizi accepted his behaviour would have caused distress and embarrassment to the young ladies concerned.

“He has never done anything like this before and he has expressed to me his great remorse,” said Miss Hibbert.

The Waves pool closed earlier this year and has been replaced by a £13.5million new complex.