KEVIN LEGGETT

Kevin Thomas Leggett, a convicted sex offender with an obligation to stay on the police registered sex offenders list for life, has been sentenced to a year’s probation after he failed to complete his mandatory annual registration.

The 43-year-old appeared in Newtownards Magistrates Court on Friday and admitted to breaching the sex offenders register requirements on January 23 this year.

The court records specify that Leggett failed to update his details, including name, residence, and date of birth, without a valid excuse, as required by law.

A prosecutor informed the judge that as a registered sex offender, Leggett is required to continually sign the register and update his information each year.

It was revealed that in January, police found that Leggett, who lives on Scrabo Road in Ards, had not carried out his yearly update.

Nearly a month later, he submitted his registration details.

Defending himself, his solicitor Conor Holmes explained that Leggett’s failure to register was not an attempt to evade law enforcement, as he is regularly monitored by a designated risk manager who visits him weekly.

Holmes stressed that Leggett was not elusive or missing, and the breach was not linked to any unauthorized activity or location.

However, Judge Natasha Fitzsimmons pointed out that this was Leggett’s second violation, with the previous one occurring in 2018, and acknowledged that the current breach happened in 2025, underscoring its seriousness.

The judge ordered a 12-month probation period, highlighting the need for strict compliance.

She also stated that Leggett’s previous offenses remain undisclosed, but as part of his probation, he is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with children and must disclose any romantic relationships.