Description
A registered sex offender has been jailed after police discovered him sleeping in a van with an underage girl.
Brandon Slater – who has an interim Sexual Risk Order – was outstanding for a court warrant, therefore police made enquiries to locate him.
At about 11.30pm on 5 September, officers from the Specialist Enforcement Unit (SEU) attended Chesswood Road in Worthing, where a Ford Transit van was discovered.
Despite repeated calls to make himself known and exit the vehicle, Slater refused.
Officers therefore began to force their way into the van, at which point Slater opened the rear doors, jumped down and sprinted away from the scene.
But his efforts were short-lived, as SEU officers equipped with Tasers and a Police Dog detained him within a matter of seconds.
Slater, 19, of no fixed address, was arrested and charged with two counts of breaching a Sexual Risk Order.
Specifically, the order prohibits him from contacting any female under the age of 18.
Slater pleaded guilty to both offences at Worthing Magistrates’ Court on 14 October, where he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.
Sergeant Tom Mills, of the Specialist Enforcement Unit, said:
“This case demonstrates that our officers are multi-skilled to respond to a variety of incidents and in this instance, they helped to remove a registered sex offender from the streets.
“He was found to be in the company of a 17-year-old girl – who was not aware of his interim order – and she was given the appropriate safeguarding advice.”