Pest who groped ‘humiliated’ teen on train avoids jail
Drunken man ‘rubbed inner thigh’ of victim after forcing face on lips
A SEX pest who groped a ‘petrified’ teenager on a train by forcing her face onto his lips and rubbed her inner thigh during a persistent ‘chat-up’ had to be restrained by passengers before being carted off by police.
Drunken Markus Hore, 26, was narrowly spared jail at Portsmouth Crown Court after his ‘unwanted advances’ left the girl in fear on a Brighton to Havant train in June 2019.
Havant-based Hore ‘put his hands all over’ the victim and even charged after her when she was moved carriages by a member of staff for her safety - and then to First Class to escape Hore’s clutches as he was held-back by passengers.
The court heard Hore made a beeline for the teenager after getting on the train at Emsworth around 8pm.
Prosecutor Adrian Fleming told the court Hore, of Elm Park Road, ‘ put his arm around her back and asked how old she was.’ Mr Fleming said. ‘He put his arm around the back of her neck and forced her face onto his lips.
‘He then started to rub the inner thigh of her leg. She said to “stop”. It was her good luck that a train guard happened to be on the carriageway.’
The ‘humiliated’ victim was then taken into another carriage but Hore continued his desperate pursuit before the female was taken into First Class.
Charlotte Higham, defending, said Hore, who has ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and
Tourettes, was ‘mortified by his actions’.
Hore admitted a charge of sexual assault on a female over 16.
Judge William Ashworth handed down an eight-month jail term suspended for two years with 30 rehabilitation days and told him to undergo a learning programme.
Hore was also given a restraining order not to go on trains between Brighton and Havant for two years and told to sign in at a police station for 10 years.
After sentence Hore asked to speak before reluctantly being granted the opportunity. He said: ‘I was just flirting with a girl. I am very sorry. I’m not a sicko.’