A SERIAL sex offender is back behind bars after trying to hide an internet-enabled mobile from police within weeks of his release from prison.

Stewart Tivendale was sentenced to an extended period of five years and issued with an indefinite SHPO for his 'distorted proclivities' when he appeared in court in January 2020.

And after he was released from custody on January 21 this year, officers from Cleveland Police visited his home on Westbourne Street, Stockton, to check whether he was complying with the conditions of his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

The 26-year-old was initially jailed for three years in 2018 after he admitted collecting and sharing pictures and videos of abuse and incited boys and girls online to send photographs and carry out disgusting acts.

The Northern Echo: Stewart Tivendale when he was jailed on 2018Stewart Tivendale when he was jailed on 2018

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said officers became suspicious of Tivendale’s behaviour after he took a long time to answer the door when they arrived to carry out an inspection of his home.

Miss Atkinson said the defendant had tried to hide the mobile phone but officers spotted a box for a mobile phone charger and carried out a thorough search of his property they discovered the Samsung mobile phone and discovered that he had been accessing the internet.

Read more: Darlington thug punched man who made disparaging remarks to his girlfriend

Tivendale, of Westbourne Street, Stockton, pleaded guilty to two breaches of his sexual harm prevention order after he was found in possession of a mobile phone capable of accessing the internet and saving images.

Emma Williams, in mitigation, said her client accepted he had breached his SHPO court order and didn’t expect to be able to ‘get away with it’.

Judge James Brown sentenced the 26-year-old to 20 months in custody for his two latest breaches of the court order.

“This is a very serious breach of your sexual harm prevention order and it must be viewed in context of your previous offending, which I regard as significant,” he said.

“Following your release, you were again found with an internet-enabled device, you clearly tried to hide it from the police and tried to access various social media sites which you had used in the past to offend.

“It’s clear to me what you had in mind and that was to commit further offences of a similar nature.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Teesside Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054