Record details
A convicted sex offender was caught deleting his internet history on his mobile phone within hours of getting it back from police.
Serial offender Ronald Harcourt was jailed in 2019 for more than two years after he was caught with a tablet computer hidden in a wash house.
He had been given an extended ten-year sentence in 2014 after it was revealed he was part of a worldwide ring exchanging child abuse images.
Harcourt, who shared indecent images with other paedophiles, had a collection of almost 4,000 images on his phone.
As a result of his latest offence, the 60-year-old, who was recalled on licence following his arrest, was sentenced to another eight months in prison.
Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting, said the defendant had deleted the browser history on his mobile phone shortly after getting it back.
Harcourt, of Raithwaite House, Helmsley Drive, Guisborough, pleaded guilty to breaching his sexual harm prevention order following his arrest on May 5 last year.
Simon Walker, mitigating, told the court that it could not be ascertained what he had deleted but reminded the judge of the short period of time his client had been in possession of his mobile phone.
Judge Jonathan Carroll said: “Having deleted your search history on the same day you received it back there was very little time for you to have committed any further offending.
“It still leaves the question what it was that you were so keen to erase.”
