A MAN who tried to entice two young girls into his car had previously been jailed for threatening to rape a woman at knifepoint, a court heard.

William Harrison, 63, was sent back to prison after Bradford Crown Court heard how he had bought sweets for the children before offering them £5 to get in his car.

Prosecutor Richard Holland said Harrison, of Armstrong Street, Laisterdyke, targeted the two girls in September 2022 at Asda in Shipley when they sneaked away from home to buy sweets.

He offered to pay for the girls’ sweets when they found they did not have enough money, put them in his trolley, and walked to the till with the two girls following behind.

He told them to come with him to his car and all three left the store together.

Harrison asked them to get in his car and offered them £5 to do so.

Harrison showed them a photograph of a penis on his mobile phone and then asked if they wanted to see his penis “for real”.

Both girls ran home and told their mothers what had happened. The police were called and Harrison, who was identified from CCTV footage, was arrested.

He admitted showing them the indecent image on his phone, which was seized and found to contain searches that showed he had a sexual interest in children.

Videos of a male masturbating were also discovered on the phone.

Harrison told police his offer to show the girls his penis for real had been “a joke”.

He later pleaded guilty to two counts of inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and two counts of attempted abduction.

Mr Holland said Harrison had previous convictions for sexual assault, in which he approached a woman with a knife and told her he was going to rape her, as well as for exposure and outraging public decency for masturbating in his car in view of two teenage girls. 

Mitigating, Kev Murtagh said Harrison had “lost control for a split second” and had stopped himself going any further.

He added: “He knew it was wrong and apologised.”

Sentencing Harrison, Mr Recorder Anthony Hawks said he had “a troubling history” relating to exposure and masturbating in public.

He said the charges were aggravated by his previous convictions and by the involvement of two children.

He sentenced Harrison to four years in prison and imposed an unlimited sexual harm prevention order and an unlimited restraining order.

Harrison was also added to the sex offender’s register for life.