A randy octogenarian was caught red handed as he molested a herd of dairy cows while pleasuring himself, a court heard.

John Curno, 80, was spotted stroking and talking to a herd of 150 cows and masturbating in fields belonging to Park Lodge Farm several times last summer, it was said.

Farmer's wife Susan Howie said she caught Curno twice with his pants and trousers round his ankles and courting her cattle, which she describes as part of her family.

Curno, who uses a walking stick, was also spotted by two sisters who saw him insert his left arm up to his shoulder into the back end of the beast and perform a solo sex act.

After his third alleged visit to the cows the sisters called police who discovered him on a nearby public footpath.

During his arrest the pensioner, who was wearing a woolly hat, a dark grey jumper and jogging bottoms, told police: "I'm not a violent person, I have a weakness with animals."

Park Lodge Farm in Uxbridge, west London, is a 600-acre farm with hundreds of cows near to a church which the pensioner claims to visit once a week because he likes the view.

On the second night he was caught in a desperate attempt to run away Curno, of Wembley, north London, failed to pull up his trousers enough and tripped over a stile before landing in the mud.

Mrs Howie said: "The cows are left unattended in the field especially in the summer we leave them in there day and night.

"I went out in my white pick up truck and the gentleman was with a cow, he had his left hand interfering with the cow and his right hand on a part of his lower body, his shirt was covering it.

"He was masturbating you could see it moving up and down and his trousers and his boxer shorts were at his ankles.

"He stopped and looked up, he grabbed his boxers and his trousers and ran to the stile."

Referring to the second occasion Mrs Howie said: "It was 8.30pm and we were running a bit late with the milking.

"It was the same field as before, this time he had had his whole hand in the cow.

"He grabbed his trousers and boxers and he ran for the stile and he actually fell over the stile because his trousers fell down when he was trying to get over it.

"I was disgusted, we gave nobody permission to touch or interfere with our cows, it might seem funny to you but they are family they are not just cows."

Curno is alleged to have outraged public decency twice between 1 August and 26 September last year, when he was arrested by police.

During an interview with police he admitted he did like to stroke the cows on their face and neck because they often approached him.

He also claimed he had not masturbated in over three years due to medication he was on and had not been in a relationship for 50 years.

Two sisters Meave and Aideen McHugh saw Curno from their cottage conservatory which overlooks the field.

They both watched in horror with binoculars as Curno as seen to actually try and have sex with a cow, Uxbridge Magistrates heard.

Meave said: "The first time it was dusk, he was about 100 to 200 yards away from where I was standing.

"I had binoculars as well, there was a man standing in and amongst a group of cows.

"I could see that he was trying to push the cows from behind towards a wooded area in the middle of the field but they were running away from him.

"He found one that did not seem to mind too much, he was stroking it and talking to it, he was all over it.

"The next time I looked he had put his left arm with his walking stick up on the back of the cow.

"It went on for about 20 or 30 minutes.

"He would take his arm out and go back to the front of the cow and talk to it and then he would do it again, I saw it happen about five or ten times.

"Whilst we were watching the cow had rotated so I could see the front of the cow and the man was behind the cow and his trousers came down and it was in the motion of him having sex with the cow, up and down.

"When the truck came he quickly pulled up his trousers and left the field."

Curno denies two counts of outraging public decency.

The trial continues.