November 02, 1992  Child rapist jailed A rapist, who attacked a pretty public schoolgirl at knifepoint after she sneaked out of her dormitory to go a pop festival, was jailed for 10 years. The well spoken 14-year-old, has been left an emotional wreck by her ordeal. Her studies have also been badly affected. She has now returned to live with her parents, who work in the Far East, the Old Bailey heard.. She told the court how her adventure turned into a nightmare when she was chatted up by Mark Holness, 26, at the concert. The schoolgirl was flattered by the older man’s attentions and was delighted when he told her he would introduce to members of her favourite pop group, the court heard. But instead the innocent young schoolgirl was lured into a sex trap.  She realised her terrible mistake when Holness snarled: ‘I have already taken the virginity of five girls,’ she told the court. The terrified teenage truant was then raped.  Holness also tried to commit an unnatural act and forced her to submit to other sexual indignities. The elfin faced schoolgirl, from a wealthy family who live abroad, gave evidence from behind a screen. Holness, unemployed of Mountview Road, Hornsey was found guilty of rape and false imprisonment between June 4 and June 7 this year.  He was acquitted of attempting an unnatural act (buggery). Judge Henry Pownall QC told him: ‘You found a vulnerable and deseprately naive young girl and I have no doubt you recognised the sort of girl she is.  ‘You took appalling advantage of her. You threatened violence and inflicted some violence.’ Holness has previous convictions for indecently assaulting a 13-year-old boy, indecently assaulting two girls aged seven and nine and having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13 year old schoolgirl.  Those offences occurred between March 1981 and Sept 1983.  He also has previous convictions for offences of violence and robbery. The judge said: ‘Your record shows that you are a dnager to people younger than you.’ The schoolgirl told how she slipped away from her Kent school and secretly travelled to London to see her favourite band ‘L7’ play in a pop festival in Finsbury Park. As she queued for a ticket she was approached by Holness. He later introduced her to a cleaner who promised to help her meet members of one of the bands, the court heard. ‘The man said that he could arrange for me to meet L7. I wanted to be a sound engineer and I just wanted to meet them and talk about music,’ she told the jury. She went on: ‘He told me that it would be possible to meet them if I was there at 6am.’ The girl revealed that she would need somewhere to stay and Holness offered to let her sleep at his nearby flat, she told the court..’I said at first that I did not want to – that I would rather stay in the queue all night and be the first in. He said that I could come back early and I agreed,’ the girl added. When they arrived at his home, she fell asleep in the living room and was awoken by Holness in the early hours of the morning and asked to cook some food. ‘I was very tired but I agreed. He thanked me and kissed me on the cheek. I pushed him away. He laughed and said that it was just to say thank you.’ The girl said that she became worried when Holness told her to remove her shoes. ‘He was very pushy. He told me to go and lie in the bedroom. I said that I was comfortable on the chair. In the end I thought that I might as well, that I was going to lie on the bed on my own,’ she recalled. She fell asleep but awoke again five minutes later when Holness entered the room and began undressing. ‘He was just wearing boxer shorts. He said that I should get under the duvet and take my socks off. I was shocked. I thought that if I did what he said he would let me go. He told me to take my jeans off and I said no. He kept on and in the end I did,’ she said. She told the court that she complied with his wishes through fear that he would beat her up. The schoolgirl broke down in tears as she recalled the attack. She stripped herself down to her underwear on his orders and then begged him not to take her virginity. ‘He told me that he wouldn’t if I removed my bra and knickers. He said that he would let me go.’ She said he asked her personal questions and boastedthat he had taken the virginity of five girls. The court heard that the girl managed to escape when Holness fell asleep. She fled to Finsbury Park bus station in a distressed state and was taken to the police station by a member of the public when she said that she had been sexually assaulted