A MAN who was found guilty of performing a sexual act on a train in front of a "scared" teenager claimed he was just scratching himself.

Christopher Grojec, 35, claimed his eczema flared up and become itchy because of the heat and sweat caused by his tight trousers.

But magistrates at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court did not believe him and yesterday found him guilty.

His 18-year-old victim told the court that Grojec had made her feel uncomfortable by staring at her on a 7.10pm Leeds to Bradford Forster Square train, on December 20 last year.

The court heard that Grojec then turned his mobile phone towards the girl, which had a picture of his penis on it, between Shipley and Frizinghall. After nearby passengers got off the train at Frizinghall, Grojec undid his belt and trousers and put his hands down his pants, the court heard.

The victim said: "After Frizinghall, I noticed him touching himself."

She added: "I felt really uncomfortable and scared. I was really worried. I did not really know what to do with myself."

Grojec, of Rockland Crescent, Great Horton, then followed the teenager from the platform at Forster Square towards the Midland Hotel, where she ran inside after speaking to her sister on the phone.

Grojec, who the court heard was "nine out of ten" drunk after spending most of the day drinking in Leeds, pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing to an act of outraging public decency.

He will be sentenced next month.