An African man allegedly pushed a woman to the ground and sexually assaulted her in Melbourne just hours after being released from custody.
The 35-year-old from St Albans appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday where he asked for bail again on charges of assault and sexual assault but had his application refused.
Victoria Police allege the man was drunk when he pushed a woman into an alley off Silk Place in North Melbourne on April 13 and attempted to sexually assault her.
A short time later he allegedly attacked a second woman 350 metres away, pulling her to the ground and sexually assaulting her on Hawke Street.
The man’s lawyer told the court her client had “heavily misused substances”, but Magistrate Tim Bourke described the alleged attacks as “deeply concerning”, 7 News reported.
“He offends eight hours after the first offending. He had just been released from the police cells,” he said.
The man’s mother told the court she was prepared to supervise him at home and make sure he only left to go to work, but the magistrate said he posed an unacceptable risk to the community and denied bail.
He will appear in court again next month.
Header image: Silk Place, North Melbourne (Google Street View).
