A "wicked" pervert who targeted a mentally vulnerable woman in a swimming baths and left her suicidal has been jailed.

Gerard Keane, 61, exploited his victim - who was more than 20 years his junior - as "easy prey".

A jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard how he began "grooming" her by whispering in her ear before molesting her in the showers of the Tonbridge pool.

Keane, of Sycamore Drive, Swanley, denied causing or inciting a person with a mental disorder impeding choice to engage in sexual activity and sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice but was convicted on "utterly compelling" evidence at his trial.

Now Judge David Griffith-Jones QC has jailed him for two years after he was convicted on the sex offences which took place in May 2018.

He will also be on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and has an indefinite restraining order, banning him from contacting the victim.

Keane had arrived in the dock using a rollator after the court heard how he now suffers from a series of illnesses including depression, sleep apnoea, chronic back pain, diabetes and obesity.

He first saw his victim in the steam room before later embracing her "without warning" and putting his head on her breasts as she showered. He then groped her.

'What you did was wicked... You saw her as easy prey and exploited her...'

The judge added: "During all this you were whispering in her ear.

"What you did was wicked. It was inappropriate and offensive and I have no doubt that you targeted her for the purposes of your own sexual gratification.

"You saw her as easy prey and exploited her."

The jury heard how the attack was witnessed by others who had regarded it as "bewildering and frightening and causing the victim considerable anxiety and distress".

In a harrowing statement to the court the victim revealed the impact the attack had on her.

It caused a deterioration in her medical condition and left her feeling suicidal.

Judge Griffith-Jones told Keane - who is regarded as a loner living an isolated life - that the attack had not been a "sudden spur-of-the-moment" incident but was "calculated" and "involved grooming".

"You expressed regret from the outset. You have a tendency to minimise what you did. These were offences committed in public on a woman having a shower, " he added.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here.