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A schizophrenic fruit picker who became fixated with a colleague and shouted that he would rape her has been detained in a psychiatric hospital.

Doctors said Miroslav Serbezov was suffering a “psychotic episode” and detained him for his safety and that of others. The 23-year-old pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault on the woman he met working at Makin near Garforth.

Leeds Crown Court heard that the woman, who has returned to Eastern Europe, was given persistent and unwanted attention by Serbezov.

He would put his hands on her shoulders, leg and hips and hug her against her will, resulting in the assault charges. He would shout that he loved her and would often follow her around the fruit-growing site.

Serbezov met the woman at Makin near Garforth and pursued her, eventually leading to his arrest.

Prosecutor Robert Stevenson said she did little to encourage Serbezov, saying she was scared of him. The employers intervened and purposely placed him in different areas of the site, but he persisted.

On one occasion, he told her he wanted to marry her and take her back to his home in Bulgaria. After work she locked herself in a caravan and he tried to break in, shouting: “I will rape”.

He was then arrested and bizarrely told police she was his wife, was not sorry for his behaviour and could do what he wanted. No mitigation was offered in court after the judge, the Recorder of Leeds Guy Kearl KC, said he would follow the doctors’ recommendations.

He said: “What took place is explicable by the psychiatric reports. Treatment in hospital is for your own safety and that of others.”

He will remain at Farmfield Hospital in Surrey until further notice.

Schizophrenic fruit picker told terrified woman at Leeds farm he would rape her