ROUGH SLEEPING OFFENDER IN COURT FOR MISSING SEX REGISTER CHECK-IN
A man who was a day late in registering as a sex offender sent a message to his supervising officer to apologize for his mistake.During the hearing at Blackburn magistrates, it was revealed that Sheldon Bateson initially went to Accrington police station, which was closed at the time, before traveling to Burnley police station.
Bateson, aged 39 and without a fixed address, admitted to failing to meet the reporting obligations required of him.
He was sentenced to a community order lasting nine months, which includes a six-month period of ongoing drug rehabilitation and a 15-day requirement to participate in rehabilitation activities.
The financial fines normally imposed were waived as he had been detained overnight.
Prosecutor Jade Roberts explained that Bateson had previously been convicted in 2015 of possessing indecent images of children.
She added that there had been numerous violations of his notification duties since then.
Defense solicitor Gareth Price acknowledged that the main aggravating factor was the pattern of previous breaches.
He explained that Bateson had been released from prison on December 18 without a fixed address.
"Recently, he has been sleeping under a motorway bridge, yet he has been adhering to the requirement to sign in weekly," Mr.
Price stated.
He noted Bateson was supposed to sign on April 30 but failed to do so.
"He later sent a text message to his supervising officer on May 1, apologizing sincerely for forgetting to sign in," Mr.
Price added.
The magistrates' chair emphasized that they considered the fact Bateson had made contact with his supervising officer and subsequently went to Burnley police station.
