Stockholm  - A Swedish court Friday convicted a man on three counts of sexual molestataton, ordering him to pay damages to three women after he was found guilty of masturbating on bicycle saddles.

The 40-year-old man admitted during the trial that he on three occasions had slashed tyres and masturbated on the saddles of bicycles owned by three women, the online edition of the Ostersunds- Posten newspaper reported.

The first incident was reported 2006 in Ostersund, 580 kilometres north-west of Stockholm. In July 2007, police were able to trace and arrest him after a woman saw him drag away her bike as he was rubbing himself against it.

During testimony he told the district court that he had acted in a state of confusion over a separation in the spring of 2007, denying that he had committed any similar acts before that time as the prosecutor had claimed, the report said.

Citing insufficient evidence, the court dropped five of eight counts.

The court said that at least one of the women had suffered from shock over the attacks that took place several times near her home.

The court said that although the charges could have rendered several months in jail, the man had no previous record and had been held in custody during the probe.

It also took into account that the defendant had sought professional help to tackle his problems and ordered him to pay a fine of 10,000 kronor (1,650 dollars) and damages of some 3,000 kronor to the three women. (dpa)