A MAN approached a teenage girl on a train and repeatedly asked her to kiss him, a court has heard.

Christopher Crawford spotted the 16-year-old as she waited for a train at Helensburgh Central station around 6.45pm on June 27.

Both Crawford and the teen boarded the 6.54pm train to Edinburgh Waverley.

Crawford then walked through the train until he found the girl sitting alone in the middle carriage.

Deputy fiscal Craig Wainwright told Dumbarton Sheriff Court during a hearing on December 12, the 19-year-old attempted to strike up a conversation with the girl but she ignored him.

Mr Wainwright said: "As the train moved he sat next to her, placed his arm around her and told her to 'give me a kiss'.

"She pulled away and told him to stop and to get off her."

When Crawford got up to use the train's bathroom, the teenager left the carriage and found a police officer who had also boarded the train at Helensburgh Central.

Mr Wainwright added: "She explained there was a male in the next carriage harassing her.

"The accused then entered the carriage and was pointed out the police constable and was spoken to by the officer who warned about his conduct."

The teen alighted at Dalreoch station and made an official complaint to police, sparking a hunt for Crawford.

When he was apprehended on September 6 he told police: "I was drunk and I'm sorry".

Crawford forfeited his right to a lawyer when he appeared in the dock last week to plead guilty to causing the teen to be placed in a state of fear and alarm, in a bid to "get it over and done with".

He told Sheriff John Hamilton being intoxicated was a "contributing factor" adding: "It's not an excuse, but it wouldn't have happened if I was sober."

Crawford explained he worked as a chef in a restaurant in Glasgow's Merchant Square, where he earned £250 a week.

However, after paying dig money to his home and £60 a week to the care of his two-year-old daughter, he was left with £150 to spare.

Sheriff Hamilton asked: "You've got a daughter who's only two. In 14 years' time, do you want someone acting that way towards her?"

Crawford, of High Coats, Coatbridge, replied: "No, sir."

Sheriff Hamilton fined Crawford £200, reduced from £300 on account of his guilty plea, to be payable at £30 per week.