Convicted sex offender who compared schoolgirl to Jane Fonda is jailed
A convicted sex offender who quizzed a schoolgirl and compared her to a young Jane Fonda has been jailed for five months.
Patrick Marks, 71, defied a ban on contact with children by approaching the teenager twice at Glider bus services in Belfast.
The pensioner, of Comber Road on the outskirts of the city, admitted two counts of breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order. Under the terms of the SOPO he is prohibited from unapproved association with anyone under the age of 18.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard he first encountered the 17-year-old girl while they both waited at a bus stop in the Dundonald area on June 27 this year.
Marks told her she had lovely hair and then requested to sit beside her once they had boarded the Glider. “During the journey he showed her a picture of a woman singing and asked her name before she got off,” a Crown lawyer said.
On July 5 he made another approach as she boarded a Glider outside City Hall in the centre of Belfast.
Marks asked to sit beside the teenager, leaving her feeling awkward, before telling her she resembled the seventies movie star. “He compared her to Jane Fonda when she was younger, and how he had fancied (the actress’s) sister, stating she was really cute,” the prosecutor added.
Commenting on the girl’s “beautiful smile”, he also questioned her about what school she attended, where she worked and asked her name.
Another female passenger intervened to help the girl move seats, leaving him annoyed at the insinuation he had been harassing her.
Marks also accepted a further breach of his SOPO by failing to notify the authorities after he changed address earlier this year.
He is currently behind bars serving a previous sentence imposed for attending church services alongside children.
Defence counsel Michael Boyd described Marks’ behaviour towards the girl on the bus services as “unacceptable”. “It would have been very distressing for the young injured party,” he accepted.
Imposing five months' immediate custody, District Judge Steven Keown agreed that it was probably the “last hurrah” before Marks faces longer prison terms for any further offending.