A 72-year-old sex offender from Holbrook who repeatedly approached an Ipswich schoolboy on a bus and invited him back to his home has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Sentencing John Card, Judge Rupert Overbury said although nothing of a sexual nature had taken place he had persistently asked the 17-year-old sixth former back to his home over a four-month period.

He warned Card, who suffers from ill health, that if he reoffended in the next two years he would have no hesitation in sending him to prison.

Card, of Jervis Close, Holbrook, admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order and was given a 16-month prison sentence suspended for two years and a 60-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

The court heard that the boy’s mother had contacted the police in October last year and reported Card’s behaviour towards her son.

Steven Dyble for Card said his client had caught the same bus as the schoolboy to visit his mother who had since died.

The court heard that Card was convicted of offences of sexual touching and sexual activity with a child in 2011 and had subsequently been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order restricting his contact with males under 18.