Paddy Mutch 37

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A registered sex offender with 99 previous offences has appeared in court for not informing police of his whereabouts.

Paddy Mutch, 37, was jailed in January 2024 for sexually assaulting a woman in Norwich who he had threatened with a knife.

Sentenced to 15 months at Norwich Crown Court he was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Norwich Magistrates’ Court heard he had been arrested on June 16 after failing to reveal where was living within three days of his release from prison. 

He had just been released after serving an 18 week sentence for similar breaches. 

Mutch pleaded guilty to failure to comply with the notification requirements.

Natasha Baker, mitigating, said he had faced a “revolving door” of short prison sentences because he had been living rough and that police were “well aware of his whereabouts”.  

She said he now had a permanent place to stay and that being sent back to prison would risk treatment needed for facial injuries suffered in a stabbing.

Magistrates told him the “onus is on you to comply with the requirements whether you think the police know where you are or not”. 

They said they had been “just persuaded” to suspend a sentence of 30 days imprisonment for six months by his need for medical treatment. 

“It’s very important that you comply from now on. If you don't, there will be no escaping jail from now on,” they warned. 

A prolific offender, Mutch has 46 previous convictions for 99 offences including thefts, burglary and shoplifting.

His sexual offence came when he visited the home of a woman he knew at 4am in June 2023 and demanded to be let in. 

Once inside he attacked her, pushing her onto the bed and trying to remove her trousers before sexually assaulting her.