Travel-ban order for Wakefield bus pervert to continue, despite being labelled a 'waste of time'
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Neil Poundford was given the 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in 2017 after he sexually assaulted a female on a bus. He is barred from travelling on public transport without a responsible adult.
But since then he has breached the order a staggering 22 times, just so he can be sent to prison to have a roof over his head.
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Hide AdA previous judge at Leeds Crown Court said it was a repeated waste of police and court time, so the judge facing Poundford this week suggested the order be revoked, but this was rejected by the Crown Prosecution Service.


Appearing in court via video link from HMP Leeds, the 65-year-old represented himself and said of the order: “I use it as a safety net. If I’m not coping financially or I have been threatened, I just jump on a bus and get recalled to prison.
“I do not want to, I would rather stay out.”
He said he was waiting for his pension, which he will begin to receive from his 66th birthday in March, so he can afford to live. He said there had been no repeat of his sexual offending and simply sits on his own on the bus.
For his latest breach, Poundford first got on a bus in Wakefield, but when nobody batted an eyelid, he got on a train on September 7 between Doncaster and Leeds, told the inspector he was banned and that he should call the police, who met him at Leeds.
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Hide AdHe admitted his latest breach of his SHPO.
Judge Tahir Khan KC gave him a two-month jail sentence, but with time spent on remand, means he would be freed immediately.
Poundford was first convicted in August 2017 after he touched a 17-year-old’s face and arm on a bus between Wakefield and Dewsbury, then preyed on a 13-year-old girl at a bus stop in Horbury two months later, touching her face and knee.
He was jailed for 16 months and given the SHPO which will run until August 2027.
During a previous sentencing, he told a judge that he did not know any responsible adults to accompany him on the buses, and that everyone he knew was irresponsible.