A PERVERT who placed women in a trance so he could grope them has been caught illegally accessing a hypnotism website.

Former nurse Iain Balsillie used the trigger words "drop for me" in an attempt to make women fall into his arms, before sexually assaulting them.

Dunfermline Sheriff Court yesterday heard Balsillie, 44, had breached a Sexual Offences Prevention Order by browsing an online site that carried information on hypnosis. The order, made by a judge in Manchester in 2008, banned Balsillie from accessing internet sites displaying erotic or hypnotic material.

It was imposed under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 after he carried out a sex attack on a woman in Manchester and was jailed for 12 months. He was also placed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

But in August this year, police carrying out computer checks at his home in Rosyth, Fife, found he had been logging on to Fetlife – which describes itself as a "BDSM and fetish community for kinksters by kinksters".

Balsillie pleaded guilty to knowingly visiting a hypnosis portal on the members-only site between August 28 and 30 without reasonable excuse.

Sheriff Ian Abercrombie warned Balsillie that breaching a court order was a serious matter, but noted he had co-operated with social work reports.

The sheriff placed him on a community payback order, with a six-month supervision requirement. He will be monitored by social workers during that period and will have to notify the police of any change of address.

In 2007, Balsillie was fired from BSkyB's Dunfermline call centre, where he worked as an occupational nurse, after two female staff claimed he tried to put them in a trance before groping them.

Following the incidents in Fife, he was convicted of the attack on a woman in Manchester and struck off the nursing register. Speaking during a Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing in 2009, his victims said he would use the words "drop for me" in an attempt to make them fall into his arms, after which he would grab them by the breasts and, in one case, lower her head on to his private parts.

The 2009 hearing was told one of the women had been referred to Balsillie in September 2007 for back problems and high blood pressure. Balsillie said he would teach her relaxation techniques.

The witness said: "He was sitting right next to me – I could smell the sweat on his body and hear him breathing heavily. It was very uncomfortable. He told me I would become more relaxed when I heard his voice, and would become excited when I saw him. I was aware of things going on but could not open my eyes or move my body."

She complained to her line manager. But later Balsillie asked her to sign a GP consent form in his office.

She said: "When I went to leave, he clicked his fingers and said 'drop for me'. My legs gave way and the next thing I remember is lying on the floor. As he pulled me to my feet, he placed his arms under my breasts."

Striking him from the nursing register, Nursing and Midwifery Council chairman Laurence Peterken said that Balsillie had abused the trust placed in him by his patients.