Christopher Sweeney 43

Description

A child rapist handed himself in to police just days after being released from prison as he does not feel safe on the streets of Derby. Derby Crown Court heard how Christopher Sweeney repeatedly does this so he can be sent back to prison where he has spent most of the past two decades.

The 41-year-old dad-of-five's sentencing hearing was told how he "feels forgotten about by society" but a judge told him he needs to seek help that is available from the authorities himself. When he told police to arrest him in the city earlier this year it was his 16th breach of the terms of being on the sex offender register.

Jailing him for 18 months, Recorder Justin Wigoder said: "A long time ago now, back in 2003, you were convicted of a serious offence, were sent to prison and was placed on the sex offender register for life. It was thought you posed a risk and so it was important the authorities should know where you lived.

"Effectively since then, and particularly in recent times, you have quite deliberately flouted that requirement and every time you do it, you get sent back to prison and the sentences, unsurprisingly, tend to get longer and longer. You got released from that last sentence and you quite deliberately did not tell anyone an address and equally quite deliberately, went to the police station and told them to arrest you.

"There are people that will help you but you have to want to seek help, otherwise you will keep going back to prison for longer and longer because you deliberately flout a court order. It is up to you, you can try to seek help, move away from the area, somewhere you are not concerned about showing your face. Otherwise your future is going to look very bleak."

In 2003, Sweeney was jailed for raping a boy under the age of 16. As part of being on the sex offender register he must tell the police where he is living within three days of being released from any prison term.

Caroline Sellars, prosecuting this week, said the defendant was let out of jail on January 24 of this year. She said five days later he turned up at St Mary's Wharf police station, in Chester Green, throwing stones at the windows and kicking shutters, asking to be arrested. Miss Sellars said officers went outside and did precisely that.

Sweeney, formerly of Burton Road, Derby and currently of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to his 16th breach of the notification requirements of the order. Samuel Lowne, mitigating, said his client has five sons who he has "little contact with" and that the defendant turned to alcohol in his teenage years after witnessing his grandfather die from a heart attack.

He said: "He tells me he does not feel safe outside prison and that ultimately he feels forgotten about by society. He gets released, finds himself homeless and feels like he des not get any help.

"He says his face is plastered across the newspapers and he does not feel safe, particularly in Derby. He wants to move away from the area and get on with the rest of his life."

Recorder Wigoder said: "There is assistance for him to find accommodation on release. The facilities are there, he just does not take advantage of them."