Description
A convicted sex offender failed to sign on at the police station – claiming he’d gone down with a migraine after taking a blow to the head from a tyre lever.
Jordan McDonagh, 26, was jailed in 2017 for 40 months after embarking on a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl.
He was subsequently recalled to prison on licence and given further jail time for breaching sex offender notification requirements in 2021.
On Tuesday (May 9), Oxford Magistrates’ Court heard that McDonagh was released from prison on licence in 2022 and put up in a bail hostel in Milton Keynes.
Having returned to Oxford, he was placed in ‘various hotels by probation’, his advocate Nadine Colyer said.
He ‘mistakenly’ thought that, having spoken to the probation service, this would mean that he would no longer be registered at the Milton Keynes premises that had previously been his address registered with the police.
As a result, he failed to register his new addresses with the police within three days of moving – a requirement of all registered sex offenders.
Now homeless and living in a tent in Cowley, he is required to register his details at the police station every seven days.
He was meant to sign on at the police station in late March, but turned up a day late.
Defending, Ms Colyer said: “He had been at work on March 24, he’d been hit on his head by a tyre lever and this caused him a migraine.
“As a result, he finished work early on March 25 and took the following day off.”
She said McDonagh accepted that his injury did not prevent him from reaching the police station that day.
“He is currently living in a tent in a nature reserve in Cowley. His public protection officer is fully aware of his whereabouts,” Ms Colyer added.
McDonagh was working part-time as a tyre-fitter, with hopes of being taken on full-time. With more hours, he would be able to obtain somewhere to live.
The defendant admitted breaching his sex offender notification requirements. The magistrates declined to deal with the matter there and then, bailing McDonagh and ordering a pre-sentence report from the probation service.
He will be sentenced on June 6.
The offence to which he has pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment when dealt with at the crown court.