Martin Tavener 33

Description

A convicted sex offender breached a court order after a 16-year-old boy was discovered in his house when police were investigating an assault. He admitted the boy had visited his home a number of times as they liked listening to music together.

Martin Tavener, 32, of Maesteg, was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in 2020 after he was found in possession of indecent images of a child under 18. In 2008, he was sentenced to three years and 164 days imprisonment after he was convicted of attempted rape, for which he was made subject to sex offender notification requirements indefinitely. A condition of the SHPO prevented him from having contact with children under 18-years-old

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard police were called to Station Hill, where the defendant lives, on June 18 after there were reports of violence and fighting. They knocked on Tavener's door, a 16-year-old boy answered and the defendant was seen at the top of the stairs.

He was detained and after police ran a check on him it was discovered he was subject to a SHPO. He was arrested and interviewed, with the defendant admitting he had allowed the 16-year-old into his flat and they enjoyed listening to music together.

Tavener later pleaded guilty to breach of a SHPO. Prosecutor Gareth James said the defendant had previously breached the SHPO in 2020 after he was found in the company of 17-year-olds in a graveyard, for which he received 24 weeks imprisonment.

In mitigation, Adam Sharp said there had been an altercation outside his client's home in which the defendant and the youth had suffered injuries. The barrister said Tavener had offered the youth sanctuary in his flat before the boy's mother arrived. He said the defendant had a "traumatic childhood" and has been registered unfit to work since 2010.

Sentencing, the Recorder of Cardiff Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said: "You have a fixed view you are not a sex offender, that you pose no risk and the SHPO is not necessary. You were well aware of the terms of the SHPO and you made a deliberate decision to not to obey them. You say you are not guilty of your previous convictions, that you are not a risk to children, that you should not be subject to the order and you choose to breach it."

Tavener was sentenced to one year imprisonment. He will serve half the sentence in custody before he is released to serve the remainder on licence.