THREE teenage friends were sexually assaulted by a man during a festive night out at a disco bar, a court heard.

A jury was told yesterday that the girls, all aged 16, were molested in a pub in Bishop Auckland by Shachawan Ahmed on December 29, last year.

Mr Ahmed, 32, from Darlington, is alleged to have kissed and indecently touched two of the friends near the dancefloor in Monaco's bar.

He is then said to have grabbed a third girl's hand and put it down the front of his trousers when she remonstrated with him about his conduct.

Mr Ahmed was thrown out of the pub by door staff and tried to flee when police arrived, Teesside Crown Court was told.

When caught, Mr Ahmed is said to have told an officer: "I have done nothing wrong. All I did was kiss her."

The court was told that later, during interview, the suspect admitted kissing the first two girls, but said it was consensual and that nothing else had happened.

Mr Ahmed told police he would regularly kiss girls if he was on a night out, and said he would do so as many as ten times a night.

Deborah Sherwin, prosecuting, told the jury that Mr Ahmed said he ran from the scene because a doorman was trying to headbutt him.

He went on to tell the police that the girls must have been upset because they were jealous when they later saw him with someone else.

Mr Ahmed, of Gladstone Street, denies three charges of sexual assault, and faces trial.

Ms Sherwin told the jury: "It is the prosecution's case that what he did to all three girls was to touch them in a way which was sexual. It was something none of them was consenting to and had made it abundantly clear to him they were not happy about and did not want it to take place."

The court was told that Mr Ahmed pinned the first girl against a wall with his body, tried to kiss her, put his hand inside her trousers and then forced her hand towards his privates.

The jury heard that he committed a similar attack on the second girl moments later and asked her to leave the pub and go outside with her.

Ms Sherwin said that when the girls' friend heard what is said to have happened, she approached Mr Ahmed and slapped him across the face twice after he tried to make her touch him.

The trial continues today.