David Smith 60

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A convicted child sex offender is back behind bars after he deliberately deleted an app designed to monitor his online activities.

David Smith had only been out of prison for a few weeks when he carried out a factory reset on his mobile phone claiming he had inadvertently downloaded a virus while searching for a horror film.

The 60-year-old’s fanciful claim was categorically dismissed by a judge as he was locked up for more than two years for the order breach.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the defendant was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in 2021 and he had been caught by an undercover police officer trying to arrange to have sex with a mother and daughter.

Judge Richard Bennett said: “In full knowledge of the terms of your SHPO, you reset your mobile telephone and in the process you deleted all of your internet history and you also removed the risk management software installed on your device.

“You claimed to the police that you did so because you downloaded something onto your mobile that contained a virus – I make it clear that I reject that explanation entirely.

“I’m satisfied that there was no such virus and you deliberately deleted this phone to hide evidence. I’m satisfied you deleted this telephone because you knew there was material on it that you did not want the police to see.”

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said Smith had only had the monitored mobile phone for a few days before he admitted deleting the monitoring app.

“He had only been released from prison on December 19 as a result of a conviction for failing to comply with his notification requirements and breaching his SHPO,” she said.

Smith, of Hartington Road, Stockton, who pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching his sexual harm prevention order following his arrest on January 21 this year, was jailed for 28 months.

Michele Turner, mitigating, said her client was the one who contacted the police to inform them that he had deleted the monitoring app off his phone but accepted that he often acted on impulse.

She added: “The pre-sentence report doesn’t make happy reading. The defendant is well aware of its conclusions and his almost inevitable custodial sentence.”