A SEX offender has been jailed for the third time in five years after breaching a court order.

Andrew Leonard Vaughan, whose address was given as Westwey Road, Weymouth, was described as "devious" and "deliberate" in his breaches and was jailed for 12 months.

Vaughan appeared before Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, January 13 for sentencing having pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

The 52-year-old has been subject to the order since being convicted in 2018 for one charge of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, one charge of causing or inciting a child to perform sexual activity and one charge of causing or inciting a child to watch a video of a sex act. 

The court heard Vaughan breached the order when, between September 16 and September 30 of last year, he failed to notify police that he had purchased two internet-enabled devices - namely an Xbox and an internet dongle - and used them at the Probation Hostel in Weymouth.

Police arrested Vaughan on September 30 last year after a tip-off from the hostel and seized the devices. Vaughan ‘presented as remorseful’ during the police interview and said that he had ‘simply forgotten’ to notify police of the purchases.

Laura Deuxberry, prosecuting, said Vaughan had shown a persistent disregard for the prevention order and had already been jailed twice for previous breaches; in 2020 after breaching the order on five occasions, including creating a Facebook account specifically to contact a 14-year-old girl; and again in 2021 for possessing another internet-enabled device.

In mitigation, Vaughan’s representative said it was “clearly a deliberate breach” and that there was “obviously a limit” in what he could add but noted that probation was willing to offer targeted support for Vaughan.

In sentencing, Recorder Don Tait told Vaughan: “It is obvious that you are perfectly aware of the conditions of your order and yet, nevertheless, here you are again.

“You knew you should not have had these devices: you are a persistent breacher and the pre-sentence report describes you as devious.

“These are deliberate and persistent breaches. You have not learned your lesson and you knew perfectly well what you were doing.”