Connor Farren 23

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Justice finally caught up with a sex offender two months after he did a runner and fled in panic part way through his trial for drunkenly groping a woman.

Connor Farren abruptly left Hull Crown Court during a trial in December but he gave himself up to police this week after suddenly spotting them not far away down the street.

He had intimately touched the "vulnerable" woman after offering to "show her a good time" but she refused.

He knocked on her door after midnight and his sexual behaviour had left her suffering "flashbacks and nightmares", the court heard.

Farren, 21, formerly of Queen Street, Withernsea, denied sexually assaulting the woman on December 3, 2019 but was convicted in his absence by a jury on a majority verdict of 10 to two.

The court was told that Farren knocked on the door of the woman's home in Withernsea just after midnight.

He had already been out stealing beer from a shop and breaking into a car in Withernsea before going there.

Farren knew the house because he had been there before when a man he knew lived there.

Judge Mark Bury said: "You knocked on her back door and you were essentially looking for somewhere to stay that night because you had been committing offences."

The woman "wasn't having it because she was in her pyjamas and it was bedtime" but Farren persisted.

"You offered to show her a good time and she wasn't having that either," said Judge Bury.

Farren touched the woman's breasts over her pyjamas while she was standing at the back door.

Farren threatened to steal property from her and later banged on the front door. She felt compelled to open it because of the noise that he was making.

He sat down and started stroking her leg but she "threatened to scream the place down" before he finally left.

"It's quite clear that the sexual assault did have an impact," said Judge Bury.

"She still suffers flashbacks and nightmares."

Farren later burgled another property and stole an electrical appliance tester and items from the garden.

He admitted stealing a four-pack of Stella Artois from a store in Queen Street, Withernsea, as well as interfering with a vehicle on December 2, 2019.

Farren also admitted burglary on December 3, 2019, and burglary of a shed on July 13, 2020, involving taking a leaf blower.

He also admitted stealing a tin of Cuprinol on July 9, 2020 and failing to surrender to bail during his trial in December.

Stephen Robinson, mitigating, said that Farren absconded during the trial after he panicked.

"He wanted to see his family over Christmas," said Mr Robinson.

"He always denied sexual assault but admitted other matters that night."

At the time, Farren was addicted to alcohol and tablets that he had obtained illegally, including diazepam.

"His life essentially spiralled out of control," said Mr Robinson

"He realised that his life was out of control and attempted to start a new life in Scarborough."

Farren was in a car in Scarborough when he saw the police down the street.

"He told them who he was and that he was wanted," said Mr Robinson.

Farren was jailed for two years and was ordered to register as a sex offender for seven years.

He was given a two-year restraining order.