Keir Dean 26

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A SEX offender has been sent back to prison for a second breach of a court order designed to prevent further offending.

Keir Dean flouted his sexual harm prevention order within months after being released from custody for his first breach.

The 24-year-old, who was previously sentenced for sexual activity with a child, was prohibited from having mobile phones capable of storing digital images.

But police found three such devices after attending an address he was present at.

Dean was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court, appearing via video link from HMP Altcourse, over charges of breaching his sexual harm prevention order and possessing cannabis.

Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting, explained how he was found in possession of two iPhones and one Samsung mobile phone, but nothing incriminating was found on them.

The defendant was made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order in July 2018 for two offences of sexual activity with a child.

The court heard how he previously breached this order in July 2019 when he sent snapchat messages using a mobile phone, and he was sentenced in March 2020 to two years in prison.

The defendant was released in March 2021, but when police attended an address at which he was present on September 20, they found him to be in possession of two bags of cannabis.

He initially told officers he had no phones, but police found three at the address, with the Samsung phone showing messages sent by him.

During his police interview, he said he did not know who the iPhones belonged to, and that the Samsung belonged to a relative that had leant it to him days earlier.

Ms Nemat told the court that this was a deliberate breach of the order for a second time and revealed that this was the defendants sixth appearance in court.

Zahra Baqri, defending, said: The best mitigation I can offer is that he pleaded guilty at the first hearing.

I ask that he be afforded full credit for his guilty pleas and that you pass the shortest sentence possible commensurate with your public duty.

Before sentencing, judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: This is the second time you have been before the court for a breach of a sexual harm prevention order.

You came out of prison some time during 2021, and within a matter of months you were found in possession of three mobile phones capable of storing images, placing you in further breach of your order.

When the phones were downloaded there was no incriminating material, but given the matter of your previous offending , you pose a clear and serious risk of harm if you were to use such devices without notifying the police about them.

Dean, of Heather Close in Birchwood, was sentenced to two years in prison.

An order was also approved for the forfeiture and destruction of the mobile phones and cannabis.