AN ITALIAN pervert from Erith who laughed as a court heard how he tried to lick a commuter's feet had the smile wiped off his face when he was jailed for 15 months.

Carlos Spigno, 50, of Blyth House, MacArthur Close, arrived at Blackfriars Crown Court for sentencing on Friday (JULY 12) dressed in shorts and a yellow Brazilian football shirt.

Jurors previously heard how Spigno had rubbed the terrified train passenger's feet despite her frantic pleas for him to stop.

He then lurched forward to lick her ankles and thrust his hand up her skirt.

It was only when the woman hit him and threatened to call the police that Spigno ran off, clutching his bottles of wine and brandy.

He insisted the woman had allowed him to fondle her feet but was convicted of two counts of sexual assault by the jury at Blackfriars Crown Court in June.

Spigno had infuriated Judge Peter Clarke by turning up an hour late for court and blamed 'the wind' for slowing down his bicycle.

But he fell silent and clasped his head in his hands when the judge told him an immediate jail sentence would be handed down.

The judge said: “Spigno is an unhappy individual. He is plainly lonely and he plainly is looking for company.

“He has no conception of how devastating his behaviour is towards defenceless women and he still has no idea.

“Sentencing is not just on the defendant.

“It is for society and the sign that sexual assault of any woman or anyone cannot and will not be tolerated by the courts.”

Judge Clarke added: “On the train he thought himself enormously attractive, which was of course a judgement that was rather alcohol-fuelled.

“She (the victim) said in evidence that he was good looking and perhaps that is something that the defendant trades on, because I would not disagree with that description.

“What he is not is attractive.”

Spigno did not react to the judge's final comments.

His victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was travelling on a train towards Charing Cross station on September 5 last year following a house in Peckham.

Spigno stumbled into the carriage to sit opposite her and started hurling 'obnoxious and drunken' abuse when she said she was from Wales.

The 'overt and sinister' touching began after another female passenger left the train.

He started to rub her leg around the ankles and then moved towards her skirt.

The Italian fled at Waterloo East station but was later arrested for the sexual assault.

In a statement, the victim said she had been unable to return to her job in the security industry since the attack.

She said: “It has really knocked my confidence. All I am able to do is waitressing work.

“I cannot return to London, which makes me very sad because I used to live there.”

Spigno has a string of previous convictions including one in 1992 for indecent exposure.

When details of the offence were read to the court, Spigno began shouting, “Excuse me, judge. I cannot hear these lies. Conspiracies!”

Shelley Griffith, defending, said: “He does admit the offence is his fault but he does not have a clear understanding of what sexual assault is.

“Clearly, he is someone when sober who feels comfortable speaking to females.

“With alcohol, he has taken that a number of stages too far.”