A MAN who has to give police 24 hours notice before he has sex with a new partner, despite being cleared of rape, can be named as a 45-year-old former English literature student.

John O’Neill, who was made subject to an interim Sexual Risk Order (SRO) with a list of conditions, has said he had an interest in sado-masochism and used to visit a Fifty Shades of Grey-style fetish club.

The single father of two threatened to go on hunger strike in protest at the conditions he must live under, claiming they infringe his human rights. He has previously said he had no prospect of forming a relationship under the SRO.

Mr O’Neill appeared at York Magistrates’ Court for a brief hearing where District Judge Adrian Lower lifted a reporting restriction which prevented the media from identifying him.

He was jostled by a member of the public as photographers took his picture when he entered court.

A judge will decide at a hearing next month whether to end the interim order or make it permanent, which Mr O’Neill opposes.

Mr O’Neill, of Baker Street, York, was tried for rape; at a first trial the jury was unable to reach a verdict and he was cleared at a retrial at Teesside Crown Court in November.

North Yorkshire Police applied for an SRO with a number of conditions, one of which was a requirement for him to inform police 24 hours before he has sex with a new partner.

The former York St John University mature student accused the police of “sour grapes”.

His history of S and M sex was brought up at the rape trial, including evidence from a doctor he had discussed his past but claimed the doctor misunderstood, which he claims police thought was a confession.

“Thank God Fifty Shades of Grey came out when it did, it helped my barrister normalise that,” he said.

Sexual risk orders can be applied to any individual who the police believe poses a risk of sexual harm, even if they have never been convicted of a crime.

They are civil orders imposed by magistrates.