A BARROW sex offender who was previously found with indecent photographs of children returned to court after breaching his order.
Christopher While, aged 38, was registered as a sex offender in 2017 and, at the time, was handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years.
A stipulation of the order was that he was unable to own a device capable of internet connection without monitoring software.
However, in October last year, While, of Smeaton Street, was found to not be in compliance and later pleaded guilty to five charges of breaching his SHPO at South Cumbria Magistrates Court in December.
He was sentenced at Preston Crown Court on April 7.
Prosecutor Charlotte Phillips said: "While told the police that he had reset his computer because it was running slow and he asked for the monitoring software to be put back on but this can take a certain amount of time.
"On October 15, the police asked to see the computer and he showed them without complaint, though he claimed that he couldn't remember the conditions of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
"On the same day, police discovered that he was in possession of three bank cards and three smartphones that had never been registered with the police, despite having a requirement to do so within three days of purchase."
In mitigation, Beth Pilling told the court that While had 'overlooked important conditions' but that there had not been 'deliberate disregard' for the rules.
She added: "The phones were not for deceitful use and there were no photos found on any of them.
"He doesn't have a lot of money so he is using these broken phones for different reasons, such as using one for the sole purpose of charging the battery for another.
"He has been fully cooperative with the police and has vowed that this will never happen again - the public are better protected if he is further educated and rehabilitated, rather than being sent to prison."
His Honour Judge Guy Mathieson determined there was no need for a custodial sentence due to the nature of the breaches.
He said: "You have been on this order now for almost its full length and there has been good compliance for the most part.
"The problem you will always have is that if you are forgetful or if you do something that breaches these conditions almost by accident, the assumption is that you are doing that to try and hide something.
"There has been no evidence of you falling back onto your old ways - the police concern is that you are up to no good but, on this occasion, there seems to be no sign that that is the case, which is lucky for you."
While was handed a prison sentence of 10 months, which was suspended for 12 months.
