A SERVING fireman who enticed young women into his car at night has been spared custody after a judge accepted his motivation was not sexual.

Paul Cheek had his yellow helmet on display when he wound down his window and asked directions to fire stations in Worcester, Bromsgrove and Birmingham, claiming he had been recently transferred into the areas and had lost his way.

Cheek held one victim's arm during the journey and repeatedly pressed it against his inner thigh, said Neil Williams, prosecuting.

He was caught after two women he picked up in Worcester pointed out his parked car to police at The Cross, in the city centre.

He told a psychiatrist that he met his fiancee in similar fashion and wanted to "re-live" the experience and gain the admiration of women because he suffered from low self-esteem, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Cheek, aged 35, of Dovecote Road, Bromsgrove, pleaded guilty to three counts of kidnap and two attempted kidnaps between August 2002 and October last year.

Sentencing him to two years jail, suspended for two years, Judge Andrew Geddes said him: "You enticed young girls into your car so that you could brag about being a fireman, to win their approval and possible romance."

The judge said it was a most unusual case, pointing out that Cheek had denied any sexual motivation to a psychatrist, had suffered from depression and was a fragile man who needed female admiration to give him an uplift.

Cheek, who had spent six weeks in custody on remand and is currently suspended by Nottinghamshire fire service, first struck on August 27, 2002, when he asked a 16-year-old schoolgirl for directions to a fire station in Birmingham.

She refused to get into his car, noted the registration and told her father. He contacted police but no action was taken.

Then on October 10 later that year, Cheek targeted three other victims. In Bromsgrove, a woman felt "uncomfortable and threatened" when asked the way at 1.30am. She also refused a ride.

Cheek went on to Worcester and an hour later picked up two young women in St Swithan's Street. They directed him to the fire station and Cheek pretended to use a mobile to warn the station he was only two minutes away. But he stopped before he got there and parked. Police who arrested him at 3.10am noted his jeans buttons were undone.

Father-of-two Cheek explained he wanted to re-live meeting his fiancee, a primary school teacher, two years ago, by stopping girls.

David Chidgey, defending, said the divorcee lived with his fiancee who had stuck by him throughout his court ordeal.

He was a "deeply troubled" man who was bullied during initiation rites in the fire service and had been affected by a fatal fire in which he tried to rescue the occupant.

Mr Chidgey said: "He went out looking for attention - and one thing led to another. He did not set out to have sexual encounters or take people against their will. He took them by fraud by spinning them a line."

Cheek's career was now in jeopardy through his breach of trust. He had been offered behaviour therapy and could receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mr Chidgey said the victims found him chatty, charming and easy to talk to. One sent him a text message and blamed herself for being flirty with him.