A man has gone on trial accused of trying to lure young girls to his Aberdeen home with ice cream and money.
Biju Mathew is alleged to have approached the primary school aged children in August and made sexual remarks to of them.
He is also accused offering them ice cream and money if they to his house.
Mathew, 43, whose address was given as 17 Marchbank Place, Aberdeen, appeared at the city’s sheriff court yesterday and denied the charges.
The two girls gave evidence via videolink.
Both witnesses told fiscal depute Stephanie Ross they had been playing in a swing park at Waulkmill Crescent on August 3.
The court heard the pair were approached by a foreign man in his 30s, or early 40s, while they were hanging upside down on a climbing frame.
One of the youngsters – who said she was wearing a dress – told the court the man then made a remark to her which she did not understand, but he later said meant she had “nice pants”.
She told the court she did not say anything because she felt “embarrassed”.
She said the man then asked her “can you kiss me?” several times, to which she refused.
According to both witnesses, he then offered to buy them ice cream and offered them £25 if they went to his house the next day.
One of the youngsters told the court he said they could play games and have a “water fight”.
He then pointed out his house, the court heard.
The witness told the court that at this point one of their fathers arrived and they told him what had happened because they were “frightened”.
He subsequently called his partner, the mother of the other girl, who phoned the police.
Mathew’s agent, solicitor Peter Keane, suggested to both witnesses that they had misheard the accused, because of his foreign accent.
However, they both denied this and stressed he had spoken good English.
Sheriff Kenneth Stewart adjourned the trial until next month.