AN ex-BBC radio producer turned into a serial flasher and sex pest after he lost his job.

Andrew Brennand, 27, went on a 14 week spree, targeting females in and around Burnley when he was out jogging after he lost his contract with Radio Lancashire in January.

His nine victims, some of them dog walkers, were aged between 15 and 60 and were left shocked, scared and very upset by his actions.

One, aged 57, had her breast groped as she walked with her pensioner sister and a 35-year-old who was grabbed by the defendant feared she might be be raped or killed, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The defendant, said to have urged the 15-year-old to touch him, gyrated his hips in front of some of the victims.

The town's crown court heard how Brennand, wearing a Burnley FC kit, was finally caught and arrested on May 13, after his last victim saw him driving a car and passed the details on to police.

The defendant, who claimed he had been at football, had been locked up on remand since.

Brennand told officers he did not get sexual gratification from his actions and they were "just an urge."

He was said to have told a doctor he did not think he was doing anything wrong at the time.

The hearing was told for an intelligent man with a Master's Degree in media and communications, the defendant had a limited understanding of the trauma he had caused and had only just started to empathise with the victims, instead of thinking he was the victim.

Brennand, of Marton Drive, Burnley, had earlier admitted seven counts of exposure and two of sexual assault, between February and May.

He was given a three year community order, with supervision, a sex offender programme and to include psychological treatment.

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt slammed his behaviour as persistent, determined and disgusting.

She said: "You were a menace. You were a sexual predator and no female on the streets of Burnley, at the reservoirs or the parks was safe from your unwanted attentions.”

The defendant, who had no previous convictions, was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for five years.

Philip Holden, for Brennand, said the loss of his radio contract had “an effect upon him, his finances, his social life and his self-esteem."

The barrister added Brennand's girlfriend had stood by him throughout.