Sion Thomas 44

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A sex offender on a suspended sentence went back to his "old ways" and had indecent images on the Kik app. Sion Wyn Thomas, 43, messaged a man with supposedly similar interests but that man was an undercover Metropolitan Police officer.

Police also found small-sized women's clothes and underwear in his car. Caernarfon Crown Court heard Thomas, of Orme Road, Bangor, had been given a 12-month prison term, suspended for 18 months, for distributing indecent images of young children, and was also given a ten-year sexual harm prevention order, in December 2021.

He completed the requirements but his attitude was "superficial", according to the probation service.

Earlier this year, a Metropolitan Police officer investigating the sexual abuse of young children online created various Messenger accounts, including one on the Kik app, said prosecutor Elen Owen.

She said people with shared interests could join a group, which could have up to 50 members or more.

Ms Owen said that on April 18 this year the police officer using a certain profile name was contacted by someone using the "John Smith" profile, who said he was a 39-year-old man. It was Sion Wyn Thomas.

Ms Owen said after exchanges between them and further enquiries North Wales Police decided to go to Thomas's home. They searched his property and his car and found "small-sized women's clothing and underwear" in the vehicle.

Police also seized his phone and tablet and found 15 images of naked girls, images of girls aged between eight and 12 and chats about the sexual abuse of young girls. It was however unclear whether Thomas himself had contributed to those conversations, said Ms Owen.

Thomas admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order and breaching the terms of a suspended sentence.

Anna Price, defending, said Thomas can't explain his behaviour. It was towards the end of the suspension of his sentence from 2021.

He did comply with the rehabilitation activity and alcohol treatment treatment requirement programme from that sentence, she added.

But the court heard today the probation service deemed his attendance at meetings "superficial".

Indeed the judge His Honour Rhys Rowlands told Thomas today the terms of his SHPO prohibited him from using social media without strict controls but he went onto Kik.

He had shown "unnatural and extremely worrying behaviour".

The judge added: "It shows you have learned absolutely nothing from your time on the suspended sentence." His non-compliance with the SHPO showed he was "seeking to revert to (his) old ways".

He said there was no prospect of rehabilitation and jailed Thomas for ten months for breaching the SHPO and six months to run consecutively for breaching the terms of a suspended sentence.