AN 80-YEAR-OLD man has been banned from approaching a teenage girl after repeatedly blowing kisses and waving at her on the bus.

Today Stefan Forkasewicz vowed: "I will never ever tell a woman that she is beautiful ever again."

But a national women's safety charity insisted that seemingly innocent actions could be distressing and intimidating for lone women, who had the right to feel safe.

Blackburn magistrates CONTINUED ON PAGE2 heard how Forkasewicz blew kisses towards the girl, waved at her, beckoned her towards him and told her she was beautiful, over an eight-week period while travelling on an Accrington to Blackburn bus.

The court was told how the girl, who works in Accrington, made it plain she did not welcome any kind of attention from Mr Forkasewicz and eventually called the police.

However, despite pleading guilty to harassing Natalie Heston-King, Mr Forkasewicz, of Lancing Place, Blackburn, today said he was just trying to be friendly and thought his remarks would be taken as a compliment.

He was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £50 compensation and £75 costs. He was also made subject to a restraining order for 12 months which prevents him from contacting Miss Heston-King or catching a bus from Accrington to Blackburn between 4.30pm and 6.30pm.

After the case, a spokesperson for the Suzy Lamplugh Trust - a registered charity and a leading authority on personal safety - said: "Blowing a kiss and telling someone they are beautiful is one thing but to do it on a continuous basis when it is not welcome is another.

"We would urge men to understand that no matter how innocent this sort of behaviour may seem to them, it can be very distressing and intimidating for the victim.

"A lone woman travelling on public transport has the right to feel safe and may not want to speak to anyone."

Mr Forkasewicz, who is recovering at home after falling down some steps, said: "I live on my own and it is always good to have a few words with someone now and again.

"I thought that she was very beautiful so told her so and I think it is a sad reflection on society that you can't pay a woman a compliment anymore.

"I left her alone when she said she didn't want any attention and I will never ever tell a woman that she is beautiful ever again."

Daniel King, defending, told the court his client had never been in any kind of trouble with the police and for the last 20 years had led "a relatively solitary existence."

He said Forkasewicz had been born near Warsaw and when the Germans invaded in 1939 he and his elder brother were sent to Germany where they worked in forced labour camps. He came to England in 1948, married and had four children.

He said his client had been in the habit of travelling to Accrington to socialise with a group of people who met in a town centre bar. After a few drinks he would catch the bus home and it was on that journey that he saw Miss Heston-King.

Mr King, said: "There was nothing sinister or malicious about his behaviour but he found himself arrested and locked up.

"This is not a dirty old man who bothers young girls. He is a lonely old man who saw a young girl and told her she was beautiful. He wants to apologise for any distress he may have caused her as it is the last thing he would have wanted."