A MAN accused of carrying out three sex attacks on the same day in Laindon is a convicted rapist, it has been revealed.

Unemployed Saulius Zilinskas, 41, of Great Oxcroft, Laindon, is accused of trying to rape a 24-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl in two separate attacks just 20 minutes apart.

Basildon Crown Court heard married Zilinskas had targeted another woman hours earlier on February 21, 2015, when he stood behind her in a queue at a Co-op store and groped her.

The jury was told that Zilinskas had already been convicted of rape in his native Lithuania.

Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, outlined what happened on the first day of the trial yesterday.

Just before 8pm, he is tried to accost a 24-year-old woman as she made her way home from a Co-op in Laindon.

Mr Jackson said: “He grabbed her by the wrist and said ‘I want you’. She started struggling and he punched her in the stomach. He put her in a headlock and she managed to kick him and he fell over. A pedestrian nearby saw what was going on. Realising this, he ran off. The prosecution say that but for the fortunate intervention of a passer-by, she would have been raped.” About 20 minutes later, the court heard Zilinskas struck again - this time targeting a girl, 15.

He said: “He put his hand on her and another hand on her neck and he pinned her to the bus stop.

“He dragged her down a muddy slope, her shoes came off. She was struggling and having difficulty breathing. Her vision was becoming blurred and she pleaded with him not to kill her. Mercifully two 15-year-old boys were nearby. She was screaming ‘help me’ and was on the verge of losing consciousness. One of them shouted he was going to phone the police and the defendant ran off. Without that she would have been raped.”

Mr Jackson also stated what happened earlier that day, he said Zilinskas targeted another woman again in a Co-op. He said: “The defendant walked past her and looked her up and down. He stood directly behind her at the tills. He rubbed her bottom. It was no accidental touching. She said that it was quite deliberate. She turned immediately and he left the shop. The defendant wasn’t buying anything so the prosecution say that the reason he was in the queue was to sexually assault the woman.”

The trial continues.

JURORS were told that Zilinskas had already brutally raped a woman in his native Lithuania 14 years ago.
Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, said that Zilinskas had moved to England to “evade the consequences” of his actions but had later been tried and convicted.
The court heard that the now 41-year-old had forced a 16-year-old girl into a car, knocking some of her teeth out while doing so.
Mr Jackson said: “She was kept prisoner in that car for five hours and eventually was driven to a secluded area.
“The defendant raped her in that secluded area.
“Following the rape, he left Lithuania and he came to this country - he was 27-years-old.
“The fact of his previous conviction cannot mean he must be guilty of the charges but the prosecution say that these previous convictions tell you that this defendant has a propensity to rape women and to do so violently when the opportunity presents.”
He also stands accused of raping a woman three times in East London on January 14, 2005 when he lived there before moving to Laindon.
Zilinskas denied three counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape, three counts of sexual assault, two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The trial continues.