Mark Nicholson 56

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A convicted sex offender has been jailed again after dressing up as a schoolgirl and asking female pupils: "Do you like my tie?"

Mark Nicholson, 55, sat outside Blessed Trinity school in Burnley, Lancashire, dressed in a white tie, blazer and skirt.

A court heard that he tried to engage in conversation with three girls, aged between 10 and 15, by asking if they liked his tie last November.

Preston Crown Court was also told that in May this year, he met two runaways teenage boys who had been reported missing from their care home.

He took them back to his house where they smoked cigarettes and he gave them a cup of cider.

Kathryn Johnson, prosecuting, told the court: “The police received a call from the safeguarding lead at Blessed Trinity to say that three female children from the school, aged between 10 and 15, had seen a male sat outside on Queen Victoria Road dressed in a school uniform that matched theirs.

“He was wearing a white shirt, a tie, blazer, and a skirt, and had tried to engage in conversation with the girls, saying ‘Do you like my tie?’.

“He was arrested the following day at his home address and the school uniform was recovered by officers from his bedroom.

“The defendant was interviewed the same day and told police he didn’t speak to the girls but accepted that he had been wearing the uniform, saying that he wears it for comfort.

"On May 15, the police were contacted by an engage worker who reported that two children were missing from a residential care home in Blackburn.

“When the children returned, they said they had boarded a hospital shuttle bus and had gone from Blackburn to Burnley. They had met the defendant and asked if they could go back to his home, and he took them.

“While there they smoked cigarettes, and the defendant gave them a cup of cider. They stayed around an hour and then left and returned to Blackburn.”

Defending Nicholson, Anna Chestnutt said his behaviour "had no place" and he would "not be repeating it".

In respect of the offences in May, Ms Chestnutt said her client encountered the boys on a bus and it was them who spoke to him first.

She said: “Nothing sexual took place in the hour they spent at his home address.”

Nicholson has 22 convictions for 60 offences and was previously jailed for 18 months for child sex offences in 2019.

He was jailed for 16 months for two breaches of his sexual harm prevention order.

Judge Stephen Unsworth KC said: “This is a worrying picture that’s presented to the court and is extremely worrying for the parents and carers of these children.

“If there’s any repeat of this behaviour you can expect lengthier periods in prison – you must stay away from young people and must stop this behaviour.”

The judge banned Nicholson from wearing items of clothing relating to a girl’s school uniform and ordered him to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.