The former standard bearer for Westbury Royal British Legion, Alan Williams, has been given a 12-month supervision order after he admitted touching a vulnerable man in a sexual manner.

Williams, 56, of Dursley Road, Heywood, was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years and told to pay £750 compensation to the victim.

Magistrates sitting in Yeovil also ordered Williams to pay a £60 victim surcharge and £85 for court costs after he pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault.

The victim, who cannot be named, suffers from Asperger’s syndrome.

The offences happened in October last year when Williams had given the victim lifts in his car.

Williams told him that he was bisexual and he and his wife had an open relationship.

The court was told he drove his victim to isolated areas on several occasions and behaved provocatively towards him.

On one occasion Williams put a hand on his thigh and said: “I want to see what you’re made of.”

On another occasion the young man felt frightened when Williams said: “I would love to have you in bed.”

The man became increasingly distressed and told a friend and then his parents what was going on.

When Williams was questioned by police about the offence, on November 19 last year, he initially denied it.

Jeffrey Bannister, defending, said: “The victim did not appear to be anything other than a normal 20-year-old and there were no outward factors that would make him more susceptible to this approach.”

In sentencing, the presiding magistrate, Alan Webb, said that he taken into account that Williams had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, that he did not have prior knowledge of the victim’s problems and that when the victim became upset he stopped his advances.

Williams had previously pleaded guilty to the offence at Yeovil Magistrates’ Court.

He has since resigned from Westbury RBL.

Mary Kneen, chairman of the Royal British Legion in Westbury, said: “Alan Williams is no longer part of the Royal British Legion.”