Locations
St. Cuthberts Court, Gateshead, NE8
Description
A convicted sex offender is back behind bars after breaching an order designed to curb his deviancy by chatting to another pervert and failing to tell police he had a phone and memory sticks.
Michael Minchell, whose previous convictions include sexual assault and child abduction, was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order in July 2020 for child sex offences. But in June this year a visit by a risk management officer revealed he was not abiding by it.
He had a mobile phone which he had failed to register with police for three months and also had USB memory sticks which he had not told officers about, as he was meant to do. And he had been in regular contact with another sex offender who he met in prison, which was also forbidden in the order. He had also contacted another pervert.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Minchell, 57, has nine previous convictions. In December 2020 he got a suspended sentence for two counts of gross indecency with a child under 13 and indecent assault of a boy. He was also convicted of three counts of sexual assault and child abduction in 2007 and indecent assault in 1998.
ChronicleLive reported in December 2020 how our story about the foot fetish pervert prompted a new victim to come forward to report what he'd done decades earlier.
Jane Foley, defending, said: "He would say he is vulnerable. He has been frequently bullied and easily led.
"He seeks the approval of others. When he has formed friendships in prison he has found it very difficult to steer clear of them.
"He has lost his job as a result of his offending. He is an isolated individual and has anxiety and depression."
Minchell, 57, of Saint Cuthbert’s Court, Gateshead, pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and being in breach of a suspended sentence. Judge Julie Clemitson jailed him for a total of 29 months and told him the sexual harm prevention order and sex offender registration will continue for life.
The judge said: "You have demonstrated a pattern of non compliance with measures implemented to manage the risk you pose.
"You are isolated and have lost your job. Those are consequences of the path you have chosen to lead through your life. You put your own needs ahead of the measures put in place to protect other people."