A SEX offender has been spared jail after breaching a court order.

James Belcher, of Gate Road in Froncysyllte, appeared at Mold Crown Court on Wednesday for sentence.

The 39-year-old had previously been convicted on three counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

David Mainstone, prosecuting, said Belcher initially received his 10-year SHPO in 2020 after handing himself into police and admitting having looked at indecent images of children.

His confession had come after his then-girlfriend had found him passed out on a sofa with his laptop next to him, displaying indecent images.

More than a thousand indecent images were found by officers who checked his devices.

At that time he told police he'd been looking at them since he was 18 and due to the sheer number of images on his hard drive he hadn't had to download any for several years.

For the offences of making indecent images, he was handed a one year custodial sentence, suspended for two years - and made subject of the 10 year SHPO, as well as notification provisions under the sexual offences act for the same duration.

Mr Mainstone said the new offences arose in April 2021, when the defendant was visited by police.

His mobile phone contents were checked, and it was found there was a "cleaning app" set to carry out a daily clean - which was prohibited under his SHPO.

It was confirmed that the app was pre-installed, and wouldn't have been easy to uninstall, the court heard.

However officers found another app which he had paid for - in order to store pornography involving adult females.

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This app also had the capability to perform a cleaning function, again in breach of his order.

Finally, it was realised that he'd deleted more than 5,000 entries from his internet history, which again he was prohibited from doing.

Among the deleted entries were pornography and searches for "teen girls."

Peter Wilson, defending, asked the court to take into consideration the delay between the breaches having been discovered and the case coming to court.

"He wasn't charged until August this year. Police saw him in April (2021), looked at his phone and sat on it with no reason."

He said at the time of the offences, his client was using cannabis and drinking too much.

He was "in an unhealthy and unhappy relationship and was ashamed of where he was in life," he added.

But Mr Wilson said: "Now, he's a fully trained engineer in work and this is something he's extremely proud of.

"He feels accepted and respected in his workplace, and has had a promotion.

"This has really impacted on every area of his life and improved his mental health.

"He is finally able to call people friends and peers and is able to hold down a steady job."

Judge Nicola Saffman told the defendant: "Do not forget, when you view images of children which are indecent, these are real children who have been raped and abused - whose suffering is unimaginable."

She conceded the defendant had 'turned his life around' since offending and had engaged well with probation officers, but warned him: "For the next ten years, your life is transparent online.

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The Leader:

"The police will see everything you do.

"If you don't want them knowing you're looking at [pornography] sites and searching for 'teen girls' - don't do it."

She handed down a 12 month custodial term, but suspended it for 12 months, and ordered the defendant to carry out 20 days of rehabilitation work.

He must also pay costs of £750 and a £156 victim surcharge.