A sex offender with a poor record of compliance to court orders is back behind bars after failing to tell police where he was living last month.

Elijah Hind was jailed for four years in March 2016 for the rape of a girl aged under 16, for which he was also made subject of indefinite notification requirements as a sex offender.

But Durham Crown Court heard that since May 2020 Hind has failed to comply with those notification requirements four times and breached a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, also imposed as part of the 2016 sentence.

It resulted in him receiving further prison sentences of eight months, 18 weeks and four months, between 2020 and last year.

The Northern Echo: Elijah Hind jailed asgain for failing to comply with notification requirements as a sex offender

Outlining the circumstances of his latest failure to comply, Helen Towers, prosecuting, said Hind’s supervising officer rang him on July 26 and asked where he was living.

Read more: County Durham sex offender back behind bars for court breach

The defendant, who had been living in Boston Street, Easington Colliery, until early July, refused to tell him, as he said he would be arrested if he did.

He then gave an address in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street, amending the house number, but in both cases, they proved to be false addresses.

Miss Towers said Hind then told the officer he had no intention of complying with the order as he would end up going back to prison.

A female voice could be heard in the background as the officer was speaking on the phone to Hind, who refused to say who she was.

It was to be a further three weeks before Hind was traced to an address in Windsor Avenue, Gateshead, and Miss Towers said it proved to be, “a determined attempt to avoid detection”.

The 22-year-old defendant admitted a single count of failing to comply with notification requirements.

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Mark Styles, in mitigation, told the court that Hind has, “clearly had problems with his mental health”, but a change of medication since his admission on remand to Durham Prison has, “hopefully proved beneficial.”

Mr Styles said: “The problem long-term will be somewhere to live that doesn’t expose him to the risk of re-offending.

“He’s vulnerable to getting back into old habits with drugs and drink.

“This, clearly, was a cry for help in many ways, given the highly unusual circumstances in which the offence was committed.”

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Judge Jo Kidd said the aggravating feature of Hind’s actions were the, “multiplicity of previous similar offences”.

Imposing a 12-month prison sentence, she urged Hind to, “engage with the Probation Service to seek accommodation where you can live safely away from the malign influence of drink and drugs.”

Hind's requirement to register as a sex offender will continue on his release from custody.