A MAN carried out a sustained campaign of stalking and harassment against several young women over a four-month period, a court has heard.

Samuel Apenteng faces five charges of stalking and one count of sexual assault.

The charges relate to five different victims, who are aged between 15 and 28 and all of the offences are alleged to have taken place between the start of February and June 14 of this year - the day when Apenteng, of Bardsley Close, Colchester, was arrested.

Raj Joshi, prosecuting, said: “The defendant is accused of approaching the complainants and contacting them in various ways using various actions to the extent where they felt uncomfortable and they had to change their routine - where they were and which streets they walked along and which supermarkets they shopped in.”

In May, a woman called Essex Police to report she had been sexually assaulted at a bus stop in North Station Road.

Following this report a photo appeal was issued by Essex Police leading to four more alleged victims coming forward.

The allegations range from inappropriate comments, to touching and turning up at the victims’ homes.

Giving evidence in Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday, the bus stop assault victim said she had met Apenteng three months earlier and he had become progressively more intense and “flirty” towards her each time they met.

She added: “He suddenly started coming up to me and would pull my earphones out and force a conversation with me.

Eventually the defendant said Apenteng would inexplicably be on her route to the bus stop in the mornings, despite the fact she had not told him where she lived.

On the morning in question, Apenteng is alleged to have grabbed the victim by the ankle, and moved it towards her thigh.

The witness said: “I was a bit scared because there was no one else at the bus stop at the time. I told him to f*** off, but I froze for a second and then got on the bus.”

The trial, which is expected to last five days, continues.