A MILKMAN who was described in court as a "weirdo" has avoided jail for sexually assaulting three teenage girls in his van.

Terence Donohue, aged 62, was exposed in October, 2013, when one of his15-year-old victims told her mother how Donohue had made sexual remarks to her and touched her, Bolton Crown Court heard.

Yesterday, Donohue, who worked as a milkman for 30 years, making deliveries in his van, was given a three-year community sentence and ordered to take part in a sex offender treatment programme.

Henry Blackshaw, prosecuting, had told the court how Donohue, of Mill Lane, Westhoughton, asked the first teenager if she went to sex parties, touched her leg, and, when she ignored him, described her as "frigid".

The girl's mother complained to police and two more victims came forward.

They also told how Donohue had sexually assaulted them in his van on various occasions between September, 2011, and October, 2013.

One girl was asked to take him her mother's underwear and once, at a petrol station, Donohue put on a pair of disposable gloves and asked her if she wanted to be examined.

His behaviour so appalled a woman at the filling station that she approached the teenager and asked her why she put up with it.

A third 15-year-old victim told police how Donohue had once put a finger in a hole in her leggings and on another occasion touched her breasts, making remarks about their size.

He also quizzed her about her underwear and the teenager told police she regarded him as a "weirdo".

Donohue had admitted four counts of sexually assaulting three girls, who were aged between 13 and 15 at the time and cannot be identified for legal reasons.

All the assaults took place over the girls' clothing.

The Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Timothy Clayson, was told how former miner Donohue, who was of previous good character, had been treated for leukaemia in the recent past, and, in 2013, his partner left him.

Judge Clayson said the repeated nature of the assaults made the offending "significantly more serious".

"Pretty much all of these occasions were accompanied by language which was grossly inappropriate, sexualising these girls and was overbearing," he added.

Sentencing Donohue to a three-year, supervised community order with participation in a sex offenders' treatment programme, Judge Clayson described it as a direct alternative to a prison sentence.

"That way the risk of you offending again will be most effectively reduced," he told Donohue.

"If you fail to attend appointments I am absolutely clear that you will immediately serve a custodial sentence."

Donohue was also placed on the sex-offenders' register for five years and a sexual offences prevention order was made banning him from contacting his victims or having contact with under 16-year-old girls.

He is also not allowed to live or sleep at the same address as children unless they are relatives and supervised by an appropriate adult, and he must give his offender manager details of any vehicle he drives. The order lasts for eight years.