A SEX offender is likely to be deported after he admitted molesting a woman in the city centre.

Mohammed Hussein Abdulyazed Ali, 33, may be an illegal immigrant, York magistrates heard, when he made his first court appearance before them last month.

Yesterday, the 33-year-old, speaking through an interpreter, pleaded guilty to sexual assault at his first appearance before York Crown Court.

“Custody is utterly inevitable,” the Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Batty QC, told him. “No other type of disposal is appropriate.

“At the conclusion of your sentence the court is bound to be considering deportation.”

Ali was remanded in custody until he is sentenced on October 27.

He told the judge he came to Britain several years ago and lived in York.

Magistrates heard police had been unable to confirm that the address he gave, Neville Street, The Groves, was his real address.

Ali is accused of following a woman along the riverside path next to Ouse Bridge that leads past two restaurants to the gardens along North Street in the early hours of July 15.

He then sexually attacked her and offered her money for sex, according to a CPS summary given to York magistrates two days later.

As she continually said no to him, he pushed her up against a wall, but she managed to escape and raise the alarm.

Ali appeared before the crown court via a video link from Hull Prison where he has been remanded since he appeared before the magistrates.

Sentencing was postponed so that the probation service can prepare a report on him.

The judge told him: “You must understand that given the seriousness of this offence, the pre-sentence report will simply be looking at the length of sentence.”

The defence team may order a psychiatric report on him.