A SEXUAL deviant who couldn't handle to pressure of being monitored by police slept rough and hid in bed and breakfasts to avoid their attention.
Robert Jeffrey was arrested while staying at the Best Western Hotel in Newcastle when police were eventually able to track him down after he disappeared from his registered Darlington address.
The 53-year-old said he found the constant attention of police and probation service too much and went into hiding in November last year.
Gurjot Kaur, prosecuting, said: "He admitted he had left the address due to stress caused by constant scrutiny he had experienced by the police."
She told Teesside Crown Court that he had stayed at a number of different guest houses in York, Sheffield, Darlington and Newcastle before his arrest.
The defendant had several sexual offences on his record including breaches of sexual offences court orders and making indecent images of children.
Jeffrey, of Brougham Street, Darlington, admitted breaching the conditions of his sex offenders' notification order.
In 2006 he was given a three-year community order for attempting to meet a 14-year-old girl he had groomed on the internet.
The following year, Jeffrey had been made subject of a 10-year sexual offences order which banned him from using the internet after he admitted making indecent images of children.
In October 2013 he was jailed for two years and nine months for six offences of failing to comply with the Sexual Offences Prevention Order which included trying to groom the teenage girls through Facebook.
And in January last year he was jailed for eight months for failing to register his address after making himself homeless.
Vic Laffey, mitigating, said: "He found himself in the position where he couldn't cope and he feared that the level of intervention would increase.
"He took the decision to absent himself therefore he finds himself in custody again."
Judge Recorder Richard Woolfall jailed Jeffrey for two years for the 'deliberate refusal to comply' with the notification order but acknowledged the stress and anxiety that the defendant felt.
He said: "The courts have been concerned about what you were doing when you disappeared off the radar again.
"The courts impose these conditions so that experts can assess your risk and keep an eye on you."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel