A convicted sex offender has been hauled back to prison after breaching rules put in place to help keep youngsters safe from him.
Matthew Taylor has been handed a 16-month prison sentence – less than six months after he was last released from jail following a previous breach of the order.
On that occasion, he smashed up a phone rather than let it be inspected by police.
The 30-year-old was placed on a sexual offences prevention order in May 2018 with conditions that include preventing him from communicating with anyone under the age of 16, save for unavoidable or incidental contact.
He’s since broken that order six times, though, with the latest breach happening last month when he waved at, approached and began chatting to a 15-year-old girl in Inverurie.
Spoke about their evening plans
Fiscal depute Alison Reid told Aberdeen Sheriff Court Taylor had been walking along Elphinstone Road when he waved at and entered into a 15 to 20-minute conversation with a girl about what they were doing that evening.
“The conversation concluded when a friend of the girl’s mother intervened and explained that she should not be talking to the accused,” the fiscal said.
“The girl then went to her mother’s house. Social workers were contacted in relation to what had happened and they, in turn, reported the matter to police.”
Taylor then told the police: “I didn’t know she was under 16. I thought she was 17.”
‘He should have been more careful’
Taylor’s defence agent Leonard Burkinshaw said the responsibility to check ages when in doubt lies with his client.
“He needs to be particularly careful with this sort of behaviour,” Mr Burkinshaw said. “He had never spoken to this female directly before but was aware of her through an acquaintance. He thought she was 17 but never checked that himself.
“They waved at each other, he crossed the road to speak to her. The conversation was a great deal shorter than the 15 to 20 minutes she said it was.”
He said they spoke about their plans for the evening before going their separate ways.
“Mr Taylor accepts that he should have been more careful and it is on him to ensure, if there’s any doubt at all, about ages that he check,” Mr Burkinshaw added.
‘You repeatedly break the condition of your protection order’
Taylor admitted the breach.
Sheriff Graham Buchanan handed him a stark warning about his inability to stick to his order.
“You repeatedly break the conditions of your protection order and this is the fifth time you have appeared on indictment for such an offence,” he said.
“Inevitably you just seem to receive one sentence of imprisonment after another and that’s the case today.”
He ordered Taylor, of Port Elphinstone near Inverurie, to serve 154 days in relation to the unexpired portion of a previous sentence, followed by a further 11 months in prison.
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