A CONVICTED sex offender is back behind bars after he looked at child sex abuse images stored on a USB memory stick.

Daniel Hatton smashed up the USB stick after looking at them on his computer and threw it away, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 58-year-old also failed to notify authorities that he had access to a digital camera, a laptop and three other USB sticks.

Annelise Haugstad, prosecuting, said Hatton told his probation officer about what he had done in January this year in breach of the terms of his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

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“He was released in July 2021 from a sentence of imprisonment of three years imposed in January 2019 for possession and distribution of indecent images of children.

“He was subject to an indefinite SHPO and has been recalled on licence since January this year until January 2023,” she said.

Miss Haugstad added: “He destroyed the memory stick and his probation officer shared that information with his public protection officer, who attended his home address in March.

“He admitted throwing the damage USB stick over the fence but he made no admission about any other additional items that were then seized.”

The court heard how Hatton told police he had looked at the indecent images stored on the USB memory stick and blamed not declaring the other digital items on his own ‘incompetence’ claiming he didn’t fully understand the terms of his SHPO.

Hatton, of Heathfield Park, Middleton St George, near Darlington, pleaded guilty to four breaches of his sexual harm prevention order – a destroyed USB memory stick; a digital camera; a laptop; and three other USB memory sticks.

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Michele Turner, in mitigation, said her client hadn’t fully appreciated that the SHPO order had ‘teeth’.

She added: “His house was thoroughly searched, all items were seized, and anything of relevance at that point in the investigation was destroyed. His wife carried out her own sweep of the house and destroyed things that the police had missed.”

Judge Timothy Stead sentenced Hatton to a total of 16 months in custody for the ‘persistent’ breaches of the court order which resulted in his recall to serve the remainder of his three year sentence.

He said: “You will be liable to serve half of the sentence, subject to licence conditions and you certainly know about that, it is not intentional but that coincides with the end of your estimated licence period.”

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