A foreign student has been jailed in his absence after he twice assaulted a woman at student halls in Wrexham.

A warrant had been out for the arrest of Elias Ragnar Zachariassen, who is originally from the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, since the second incident which took place late last year.

Justin Espie, prosecuting at Wrexham Magistrates Court, said Zachariassen and the female victim were both students who lived next door to each other in the John Neal Block at the student village at Plas Coch campus.

They had both been living there since the start of term when at the beginning of October last year, Zachariassen approached the victim from behind while she was sitting on a communal sofa.

Mr Espie said Zachariassen, 28, was drunk and tickled the woman on the neck before placing his hand on her thigh which she told him was inappropriate.

A similar incident happened on Friday, November 10, when Zachariassen was again described as being drunk when he placed his hand on the woman's thigh despite her warning him about his behaviour.

Mr Espie added the woman, who made an official complaint to Wrexham Glyndwr University following the second incident, was heard to say: "What do you think you are doing? I've told you about this before."

Mr Espie added that despite a warrant being out for the offender, Zachariassen had not been arrested and had more than likely returned home.

"The reality is, the possibility of an execution of this warrant is very low," he said, before adding that if the court imposed a sentence in Zachariassen's absence he could be arrested if he tried to enter the UK in the future.

Chairman of magistrates, John Pereira, said: "This man has disregarded the victim's requests on a number of occasions and was also under the influence of alcohol on both occasions, causing psychological harm to the victim."

Mr Pereira sentenced Zachariassen to four weeks imprisonment for each count of assault in his absence and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £150.