Bus pervert jailed again for breaching court order banning him from using public transport

Neil Poundford was spotted by police getting onto the Arriva bus just 12 days after he was released from jail over his last breach.

Leeds Crown Court heard the 61-year-old was given a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in 2017 for groping teenage girls and must be accompanied by an adult if he wants to travel.

Poundford has continued to ignore the order and has been caught on public transport on numerous occasions.

For his latest breach, prosecutor Kristian Cavanagh told the court that Poundford had been seen getting on the Arriva 187 service on Castleford Road in Normanton on January 26.

He got off at Wakefield Bus Station and caught another bus to Westgate. Twenty minutes later he boarded another bus back into Wakefield city centre.

He repeated the same journeys the next day.

Poundford, of Pioneer Way, Castleford, admitted six breaches of his SHPO.

The defendant was first given the order when he was jailed for 16 months in August 2017 for two offences of sexual assault.He touched a 17-year-old's face and arm after trying to strike up a conversation with her on a bus between Wakefield and Dewsbury.

He was arrested and released on bail but preyed on a 13-year-old girl at a bus stop in Horbury, Wakefield, two months later, making a comment about her jeans before touching her knee and face.

Appearing in court via video link from HMP Leeds, Poundford was not represented by a barrister, saying he just wanted to be sentenced and "get it over with".

When asked to explain his actions, he told the judge that he needed to get into Wakefield after being released from jail to organise his benefits and medication, because he did not know how to do it online.

He said he also needed to buy clothes because he had none after being released from prison.

The defendant said he was unable to do it all in one day, so had to go back the next day.

He added: "That's the reason I was on the bus, I would not just ride around on a bus willy-nilly.

"I do not get on buses if women are on there, and I immediately get off at the next stop so I'm never tempted to do anything stupid. Not that I would because I'm not a danger."

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC handed him a 16-month jail sentence and said: "Your offending is seriously aggravated by your repeated breaches of the order.

"You must not travel on a bus unaccompanied and you know this. These breaches are quite blatant and deliberate."