A Fishponds man found guilty of sexually abusing a gay woman has been handed an 18-month conditional discharge.

Nigel Baxter, 42, got drunk and kissed the woman when they were alone in a Bristol flat, Bristol Crown Court heard. It was claimed he then touched her improperly and forced her to touch his private parts.

Baxter, of Ettricke Drive, Oldbury Court, pleaded not guilty to three sexual assaults on December 9 last year.

A jury of seven women and five men found him guilty of kissing the complainant, but cleared him of the two other alleged sexual assaults.

Judge David Ticehurst ordered Baxter to pay the woman £500 compensation.

Ian Dixey, prosecuting, told the jury that after the alleged assaults, the woman's friends returned to the flat and could see she was upset.

Baxter admitted kissing her, and said he had enjoyed it.

The police were informed and when Baxter was interviewed, he said the kiss was consensual, the woman initiated it and nothing else happened.

Speaking from behind a screen, the woman told the jury she lived life as a man and hoped for a sex change.

She told the court how "quite drunk" Baxter chatted with her on the sofa and she chatted to him about her wanting gender reassignment.

She said: "He was saying he saw me as one of the lads and he would treat me as a lad.

"After all that he just seemed to be very nice."

The woman said suddenly Baxter put his arm around her and pulled her to him.

She said: "He pulled me down to the seat where he was sat and then he kissed me. I said 'can you stop squeezing me so tight, I'm not interested, I'm not that way inclined'."

The jury was told that Baxter gave the woman an "aggressive" kiss before groping her intimately.

She said Baxter then made her put her hand on him improperly.

The complainant told the jury that when her friends arrived on the scene, Baxter told them they had kissed.

She described how she was in a state, she didn't know what to do and she was scared.

She then recounted how one of her friends sent her a mobile phone text message asking "What's happened, what's wrong?"

Following that, she said, the friends decided to ring the police.

The complainant firmly denied she consented to kissing Baxter and insisted improper touching took place.