A “DIRTY old man” working in the care industry has been jailed for groping fellow employees.

Albert Carter, 65, pawed and sexually assaulted two women, said Brian Russell, prosecuting.

The experience affected them so much, after Carter had denied the charges, one told police she would commit suicide rather than go through the ordeal of giving evidence against him and reliving the experience.

The other one self-harmed.

Carter and the women worked for a care company operating in the Ryedale area.

“You behaved like a dirty old man,” the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told Carter at York Crown Court.

“A custodial sentence is inevitable bearing in mind these girls had to wait months in order to give evidence and therefore were put through more trauma.”

He said women at work would be protected by the courts from gropers.

Carter, of Barden Place, Filey, changed his plea to five charges of sexual assault on the day of his trial. He was jailed for 26 months, put on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and made subject to a restraining order protecting the two women for life.

He was sacked after the women told their area manager what he had done. For him, Nicholas Peacock said: “He is a man who has been a valuable member of society in his entire working life.”

After his sacking he had resumed his career as a fork lift driver.

Mr Russell said Carter told the first woman he was attracted to her and groped her.

Some weeks later he sexually assaulted her again.

The second victim saw the first victim on the evening she had been attacked by Carter and told her what he had done.

They both told their management, who called in the police.

Mr Peacock said Carter had arthritis and was waiting for a hip replacement. He also had a heart condition that had probably been made worse by the stress of the court case.