Mexican waiter fondled 12 women

Lozano attacked most of his victims in Princes Street

A waiter at a Mexican restaurant has been jailed after admitting touching the bottoms of 12 women.

Marco Lozano, 36, grabbed the women's buttocks as they walked in streets across Edinburgh, the city's Sheriff Court was told.

He later told police he particularly liked European women as he considered them to be more beautiful than those in his native Mexico.

Lozano was jailed for a year, with two years on licence after his release.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

'That's what we do in Mexico' he had said. It was a cultural difference Steve Donald Defence lawyer

Lozano, who came to Edinburgh in 2006 and lived in the Gorgie area of the city, had previously admitted assaulting 12 women by seizing or touching their buttocks.

The assaults took place between 15 May and 10 July this year, nine of them in Princes Street, two in Gorgie Road and one in Shandwick Place.

On nine occasions, Lozano grabbed the women's bottoms. He also slapped one, touched one and rubbed one.

Lozano, who worked as a waiter at Pancho Villas restaurant in the High Street and Viva Mexico in Cockburn Street, was arrested after being identified through CCTV footage.

Lot of distress

Defence agent Steve Donald told Sheriff Gordon Liddle that there did not appear to be any reason why Lozano had acted in the way he did.

He said his client, who was said to have been depressed and lonely after losing contact with his children in America, claimed there was no sexual gratification, adding: "His position is he was looking for some kind of response, some reaction.

"He told the police he was just playing. 'That's what we do in Mexico' he had said. It was a cultural difference."

Describing the case as "bizarre", Sheriff Liddle told Lozano his activities had caused a lot of distress to a lot of people and that a custodial sentence had to follow.