Drunken Havant pest who groped a 'petrified' teenager's thigh and planted kiss on lips during botched train chat-up avoids jail

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.

During his unwanted advances, Havant-based Hore ‘put his hands all over’ the victim and even charged after the object of his desire 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) got on the train and slumped onto a seat near her. She then became the attention of his unwanted advances.

‘He asked how she was - his voice was slurred - and asked if he could sit next to her. He just moved over and invaded her personal space shunting her into the corner of the seat, leaving her with bruising.’

Hore, of Elm Park Road, then started his verbal come-on by insisting: ‘Look me in the eye.’

After asking if she had a boyfriend he then flirtatiously posed: ‘What would your family do if I kissed you?’

The ‘intimidated’ teenager replied: ‘They would be disgusted.’

But unperturbed by the victim’s response, Hore upped the ante and started to get physical.

‘He 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.

‘The door was not released so the defendant could not decamp the train,’ Mr Fleming said. ‘He was restrained by members of the public before he was arrested by police.’

During the prosecutor’s summing up Hore had to be warned after repeatedly interrupting. ‘If you cannot shut your mouth then I will send you downstairs,’ judge William Ashworth told him.

The victim, in a statement read out to court, said: ‘I am now petrified of going on the train and if on my own will now go on a bus.

‘I’ve been put on anti-depressants because of the incident.’

Charlotte Higham, defending, apologised for unemployed Hore’s ‘outbursts’ which she said were due to him being ‘terrified of going to prison’.

The lawyer 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 Ashworth told Hore: ‘(The victim) must have been petrified. You completely ignored her privacy and right not to be bothered by someone she did not want anything to do with.

‘You thought you were entitled to chat-up a girl and put your hands all over her.’

He then handed down an eight-month jail term suspended for two years with 30 rehabilitation days and told him to undergo a learning program.

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.’

SEE ALSO: Man jailed for stabbing friend

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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