CHRISTOPHER SCATTERGOOD

Sex offender duped South Yorkshire mum into staying overnight A South Yorkshire woman was left “shaking with anger” after a registered sex offender duped her into letting him stay overnight while her young son was present.

Christopher Scattergood was released from a four-and-a-half prison sentence for three sex offences and burglary, imposed on November 9, 2016, and moved into a house on Warwick Street, Rotherham, on condition he lived there and notified police about any changes to his address.

But when officers visited twice in November 2019, there was no sign of him and the house appeared empty, prosecutor Craig Lowe told Sheffield Crown Court, on Friday.

In fact Scattergood had been staying with a 31-year-old woman he met on Facebook, at her home in the Ludwell area of Barnsley, and told her he’d served a prison sentence for assault.

The court heard he stayed overnight at her address at weekends, while her nine-year-old son stayed with his grandmother, but also during the week when the boy was present.

“Had she known he was a registered sex offender she would never have let him into her house,” Mr Lowe said.

“She describes herself shaking with anger because she was duped.” When Scattergood was arrested, signing on at Rotherham police station, officers discovered a Halifax bank card which he failed to tell police about.

He has been recalled to prison until October 2021.

Tom Heath, mitigating, said Scattergood understood the terms of his requirements and offered no excuse for breaching them.

He said Scattergood stayed in Barnsley for 16 nights over the course of four weeks, and the child was ususally not present at the weekends.

He had been diagnosed with depression and a form of autism which “could significantly diminish his understanding of social situations” and led to “unusual thought processes.” Scattergood’s mental health problems and learning difficulties were the product of a difficult childhood and upbringing, Mr Heath said.

“His actions are very much informed by his history,” he said.

“He knows if he doesn’t change his actions, he could find himself looking back and realising a large proportion of his life has been spent in custody.” Scattergood, 26, currently of HMP Doncaster, pleaded guilty to three breaches of the notification requirements, after initially denying them.

Judge Michael Slater sentenced him to nine months in prison.