Daniel Waddington 29

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A convicted sex offender who lived in a tent in woods got himself in hot water after he repeatedly failed to register his details with the police – because it was too far to walk.

Daniel Waddington was desperate to "remove" himself from society completely and lived "four miles from anywhere else". But he often could not be bothered "to tell the police where he was actually living".

He claimed that the reason that he sometimes did not go to the police station was because it was an hour to walk there and an hour to walk back, Hull Crown Court heard. Waddington, 29, of Lansdowne Road, Bridlington, admitted failing to comply with his notification requirements as a convicted sex offender and breaching a community order.

Michele Stuart-Lofthouse, prosecuting, said that Waddington had been convicted in March 2021 of three offences of making indecent images of children and he had been given a three-year community order, 30 days' rehabilitation and a 90-day sex offender treatment programme.

Waddington had been given a five-year sexual harm prevention order and had been ordered to register as a sex offender for five years. The offences involved him searching for "jailbait teens" and "school girls", as well as "young teen porn".

Waddington was homeless at the time of his conviction, but he had to tell police every seven days where he was living and where he could be found. He failed to do so on February 15 and 22 last year and, after that, his compliance was "sporadic" and he failed to notify his details on March 21 and 28 last year.

Waddington again failed to do so on April 10. He later told police that he understood the requirements but he had been homeless and this made it difficult to attend because he did not have transport and it was a long way for him to walk from where he was living, especially as he had a bad knee at the time.

Waddington admitted that he had received text messages from the police, but he had ignored them. He had breached the community order three times, missing appointments on August 22 and on September 12 and 18. "He has failed to attend since," said Miss Stuart-Lofthouse.

His overall compliance was "poor" and he had shown a lack of motivation, despite attempts by the probation service to be flexible. Waddington had attended only 86 of 140 appointments.

Harry Bradford, mitigating, said that the breaches were accepted by Waddington and they had been like a "Damocles sword" hanging over him. At the time, Waddington was homeless and suffering problems.

"He had removed himself from society as far as he could to get away," said Mr Bradford. "He lived in a wooded area in a tent four miles from anywhere else.

"To walk to the police station was an hour there and an hour back. Essentially, he buried his head in the sand. He was turning down support from professionals and he had removed himself as far as he could from society.

"Inch by inch, he has clawed his way back into society as best he can. He has stable accommodation for the first time in a long time. The person who did those breaches is not the same person who sits at the back of court.

"He had terrible compliance previously. He is trying to get his life back together. He is in a position to be engaging more with the probation service."

Waddington was given a 15-month suspended prison sentence and 15 days' rehabilitation. The sexual harm prevention order and the notification requirements will continue. Judge Tahir Khan KC told Waddington: "You haven't knuckled down and done the work you should have done."