A pensioner has been found guilty of abducting a young boy and then molesting him in his car.

Nigel Hawkins accosted the 12-year-old in Folkestone at a time when he was banned by a court ‘protective’ order from having contact or communicating with anyone under 18.

The 73-year-old stopped to ask the youngster - who he did not know - for directions to a Currys store before inviting him into his Mini to show him the way.

It was while they sat in the vehicle that Lydd resident Hawkins told the boy he had “big muscles” before touching his biceps and leg.

Jurors at Canterbury Crown Court heard he then touched the victim’s genitals over his clothing and made a crude remark.

Hawkins also tried to bribe him with £5 into not telling anyone, adding that men “could be friends with children”.

However, once home, the boy, who had revealed his age to Hawkins as soon as he was in the car, told his mum what had happened.

Hawkins was arrested and admitted he had “messed up” in breaching the court order, which had been imposed due to concerns over previous, non-conviction behaviour, but he denied any sexual wrongdoing.

The court heard the boy was “minding his own business” as he walked along Cherry Garden Lane on June 3 last year when Hawkins pulled up in his red Mini.

Prosecutor Christopher May said that having asked for directions to the electrical store, he asked the youngster to “show him the way” by getting in the car.

Once at the Currys branch on the Park Farm industrial estate, the pair went in and the pensioner bought a steam cleaner mop.

It was once back in the Mini that the sexual assault occurred, Mr May told the court.

“He told the young boy he had ‘big muscles’ and touched him on his biceps and his leg,” said the prosecutor.

“He [made a crude remark] as he was touching his leg and then he touched the boy’s genitals over his clothing.

“The boy was taken aback, didn’t know what to do, and later said he felt like hitting him.

“But he didn’t do anything and after about 10 minutes in the car, the defendant drove him back to where he had picked him up, gave him £5 in cash and told him not to tell anyone about it.

“You may feel that was a bribe for him not to tell his parents what he had just done, and saying it was ‘OK for men to be friends with children’.”

However, having revealed the encounter to his mum once home, it was reported to police. Hawkins was traced that same day through CCTV and his car registration.

A sexual risk order (SRO) made at Margate Magistrates’ Court in September 2021 prevented the pensioner from having unsupervised contact or communication with a child under 18 other than through inadvertent contact in the course of daily life or in the knowledge of a child’s parent, guardian or social services.

Mr May told the court: “The behaviour of the defendant, who knew he was subject to that order, was neither supervised nor inadvertent, and he didn’t have consent.”

When police went to Hawkins’s home in The Green, he initially told officers “I haven’t done anything out of the ordinary”, and then described his shopping trip and how he had approached the boy when he could not find the Currys store.

The jury heard Hawkins had said: “A lad was there. I called him over and he said: ‘I’ll come and show you’.

“I took him up to Currys and I dropped him back where I had picked him up and that was it.”

When formally interviewed and asked if he had sexually assaulted anybody, Hawkins replied: “Not that I’m aware of.”

He admitted touching the boy’s arm and leg and saying he had “big muscles” after chatting about hobbies, and that he gave him money but said he told the boy to tell his mum about it.

Mr May told the court that when asked by police about the SRO, the pensioner said he had “messed up.”

Hawkins denied abducting a child and sexual assault but was convicted of both offences today. He had pleaded guilty ahead of his trial to breaching the SRO.

Sentencing was adjourned by Judge Simon Taylor KC for a report to assess dangerousness and Hawkins was remanded in custody until April 18.