A SEX offender traced through an Evening Press appeal has been jailed for 21 months for indecently attacking a man asleep by the River Ouse.

Prosecutor Alan Mitcheson said that the victim was so furious after he awoke and realised what Alexander Murdo MacKay had done to him that he threw his attacker against some metal railings and kicked his head and body.

It was the second time the victim had been the subject of sexual abuse, York Crown Court heard.

MacKay, 49, of Lucas Avenue, Clifton, pleaded guilty to causing another person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and was jailed for 21 months and put on the sexual offenders' register for ten years.

His barrister, Paul Williams, said he was a good family man, with bisexual tendencies, who had a drink problem, and had been drinking before the sex attack.

Mr Mitcheson said shortly after beating up MacKay, the victim flagged down a patrol car in Leeman Road and handed himself in for his violence.

"He wasn't prosecuted, was he?" the Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman asked, later saying the attack had been a "very natural reaction".

Mr Mitcheson confirmed that the victim was not charged with assault.

Instead, police made a press appeal for MacKay to come forward, and tracked him to his place of work, where he was arrested on September 10.

The prosecutor said that the victim was sleeping on a bench by the River Ouse, near Scarborough Bridge, at 2am on September 6, when MacKay approached, undressed his lower body and indecently assaulted him.

The victim awoke and MacKay apologised to him and walked off.

"Somewhat bewildered, the complainant remained at the scene and it gradually dawned upon him that he had been subject to a vile and indecent assault," said Mr Mitcheson.

Then MacKay returned, admitted what he had done and the victim, who had been sexually abused by another person in the past, attacked him before fleeing. Within hours, realising that he may have gone too far, the victim handed himself in.

Mr Williams said MacKay had suffered substantial bruising and severe headaches as a result of the beating-up. He had a previous conviction for indecent exposure, for urinating in the street.

The court heard since his arrest, MacKay had been the subject of threats at his home and was hoping to move.

Updated: 10:26 Tuesday, November 02, 2004