A sex attacker who targeted two women in Aberdeen 11 years apart is now behind bars.
Christopher Kenn first pounced on a 25-year-old woman in Aberdeen as she was heading home from a night out in 2008.
The 45-year-old remained at large after police were unable to identify the culprit.
It meant Kenn was then free to attack a 16-year-old schoolgirl in the city in January 2019, after following her off a bus.
He later claimed to have attacked the petrified teenager “by accident”, but a DNA check later snared him for the crime carried out more than a decade earlier.
Kenn now faces a lengthy jail term after he admitted assaulting both victims with intent to rape.
Sentence was deferred at the High Court in Glasgow until next month.
Kenn first struck in the early hours of September 16, 2008 in Aberdeen’s Orchard Street.
He pushed his victim to the ground and lay on top of her as he repeatedly tried to pin her arms down.
Advocate depute Allan Nicol told the court the victim had “screamed for help”, with her cries alerting a man living nearby.
He raced from his home to confront Kenn, who fled, and while the man gave chase, he got away.
The court was told the woman had been left in a “state of distress”.
DNA from her attacker was found on the knee of her tights, but there was no match in the system at that time.
More than a decade later, in January this year, Kenn put a teenage girl through a horrific ordeal..
He followed her onto a bus as she headed home from school in Aberdeen.
The 16-year-old spoke to her dad on the phone during the journey.
Mr Nicol told the court: “She said she felt as if she was being watched. The girl said she would tell her dad when she got home.”
She spotted Kenn “staring” at her, but at the time ignored him.
But shortly after she got off the bus, Kenn jumped on top of her, putting his arm around her neck and covering her mouth.
As she was hauled to the ground, the attacker repeatedly punched the youngster before molesting her.
He was described at one point as “growling” during the attack.
A woman walking her dog heard what was happening and came to the girl’s aid.
Kenn again ran off but this time CCTV from the bus they had shared helped to snare him.
He later told police: “I assaulted a school lassie by accident”. Kenn also claimed it was “stupid”.
Mr Nicol: “He said he had not see her before and that it was not pre-meditated.”
The court heard Kenn was then caught for the 2008 attack after a DNA hit.
Lord Mulholland deferred sentence for reports and placed Kenn on the sex offenders register.
The judge told him: “You assaulted, with intent to rape, two women who were strangers to you. These are very serious matters.”