A ROMANIAN man has been remanded in custody after he admitted two sexual assault charges at pubs in Saltcoats. 

39-year-old Gavril Kifa appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last Thursday where he admitted three charges against him after a deal with the crown meant a fourth charge was dropped. 

A visibly upset Kifa heard narration of his crimes through an interpreter as the court heard that the first complainer was out with friends and they decided later on in their night to go to the Bar One. Whilst in the Vernon Street pub, the woman and her friends were drinking and dancing when she became aware of Kifa behind her and then felt his hands on her legs and hips above her clothes. The woman told him to ‘p**s off’ and he raised his arms and appeared shocked. 

The victim continued to dance and seconds later felt Kifa again and felt his hand slide up under her skirt and onto her buttocks. 

A friend of the victim seen it and she turned around an struck Kifa and then one of her friends intervened. She was upset and went to the toilet before leaving the pub. 

The charge was said to have taken place on a date between October 1 and December 25 but wasn’t reported to police at the time although it came to light when the second and third charges were reported. 

The second and third charges also took place in the Bar One and Kifa sobbed and said he was ‘very drunk’ when pleading guilty and the court heard that another female was out with friends and they noticed a man staring at them, they didn’t know him but had seen him in the area before. 

As one of the woman walked past, he reached out and grabbed her dress in an attempt to pull her towards him. The woman pushed him away and walked past but a friend of the first victim also walked past and Kifa grabbed her by the wrist but he didn’t say anything before a witness pulled her away. 

About 20 minutes later one of the females was walking past again and he moved intentionally closer to her before putting his left hand up her dress and touched her in a sexual manner. The victim was upset and pushed his hand away before going back to her friends and explaining what happened before leaving. 

The charge wasn’t reported at the time but Kifa was arrested in June and interviewed afterwards and he told police that he wasn’t guilty but had been to the locus before. 

When he was cautioned and charged Kifa intimated that he understood and replied: “I haven’t touched her, you can ask the security guard. I don’t know, I haven’t flirted with anyone.”

Neil McPherson, representing Kifa, said that his client has been previously working in Hunterston Power Station but had been advised that his job and the residence that came with it had been terminated and that was the reason that he had been remanded in custody but there was an address provided from a friend in the Grangemouth area.

McPherson said that Kifa had been in Scotland for around two years and that he was married with two children back in Romania. 

He added that alcohol was at the root of the charges and that Kifa had essentially had a black-out. 

Sheriff John Rafferty, presiding over the case, said that he was not satisfied regarding the address and said: “I take the view that these offences occurred on two separated occasions but your position is that you lost control due to alcohol and you have a significant alcohol problem - which hasn’t been treated. 

“These offences are serious - you touched a particularly intimate part of one of the complainers and I think against that background there is a substantial further risk of re-offending.”

Kifa was remanded in custody pending the preparation of reports with bail being refused. 

He will find out his fate on October 20.