Man breached sex offender order by visiting Eastbourne leisure centre

A man has been jailed for five and a half years for offences including visiting an Eastbourne leisure centre '“ in breach of a sex offender order placed on him.
Mark Jenks, , 63, of Brunswick Terrace, Hove, has been given a five and half-year prison sentence for offences that police uncovered after they stopped him for using his mobile phone while driving. SUS-170428-151917001Mark Jenks, , 63, of Brunswick Terrace, Hove, has been given a five and half-year prison sentence for offences that police uncovered after they stopped him for using his mobile phone while driving. SUS-170428-151917001
Mark Jenks, , 63, of Brunswick Terrace, Hove, has been given a five and half-year prison sentence for offences that police uncovered after they stopped him for using his mobile phone while driving. SUS-170428-151917001

Police say officers uncovered a series of offences when Mark Jenks, 63, of Hove, was stopped for using his mobile phone while driving.

He was sentenced at Brighton Crown Court on Monday (April 24) for possession of cannabis with intent to supply, production of cannabis, unlawfully abstracting electricity, using a phone while driving, and breaching the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) requirement to notify police of any new bank accounts.

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Police say subsequent enquiries confirmed that he was in breach of his SHPO as he was found to have visited a leisure centre in Eastbourne, and was in breach of an existing sex offender registration requirement as he had new bank accounts which had not been notified to the police.

He will be a registered sex offender for 10 years, and was also given a renewed 10-year SHPO severely restricting his access to children, say police.

In January this year patrolling police officers spotted Jenks using his phone while driving near Lewes.

They stopped him at nearby Ringmer and on checking his car found two bags full of cannabis. He was arrested for this offence, and a search of his address revealed a cannabis hydroponics set up in the loft.

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Detective Constable James Meanwell said, “This case shows how good work by our colleagues on the roads can also disrupt serious criminality.”

The SHPO had initially been issued to Jenks at Chichester Crown Court in 1999 following his conviction for indecently assaulting a girl under 14 in Southwick.

According to Sussex Police, he has had several further convictions since then for breach of sex offender registration and SHPO requirements, resulting in courts varying and replacing previous Orders, but has had no convictions for contact offending in the past 10 years.

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