A SEX offender breached a restrictive court order by exchanging scores of messages with a woman who has parental responsibility for a child under 16, a court was told.

As part of a conviction for sexual activity with a female child, at Teesside Crown Court in 2009, Mark Nixon was made subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, since replaced by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Durham Crown Court heard that the order, made, “without limit of time”, has been breached three times previously, by Nixon.

Becky Jane, prosecuting, said the defendant, now living at a charity-run men’s hostel in Plawsworth, near Chester-le-Street, was the subject of a routine monitoring visit by his offender manager on November 13, last year.

Two mobile phones were seized and on examination of one of them 119 text messages were found, between Nixon and a former partner.

The messaging spanned a period from September last year and most of them were said to have been sent in the days prior to the police visit.

Miss Jane said the terms of the SHPO forbid Nixon from making contact with any person with parental responsibility for a child aged under 16, without informing a monitoring police officer.

When interviewed, Nixon claimed he did not realise he was breaching the order.

He said when the terms of the order were read to him he, “switched off” during his monitoring reviews, claiming the offender manager, “talks too quickly.”

Miss Jane said Nixon, formerly from Shildon, has 27 convictions for 57 offences, and of “relevance” were the initial charge triggering the order, and the subsequent breaches.

He is now also in breach of a suspended sentence for driving while disqualified.

Nixon, 35, indicated a guilty plea to the breach of the order when he appeared before magistrates, in April.

A pre-sentence report, prepared since, was said to indicate a good compliance with the Probation Service.

Dr Chris Wood, in mitigation, said Nixon has “performed positively” with both the charity running his hostel and with a previous probation-overseen rehabilitation order.

“He needs their support, that’s very much how it’s seen.”

Dr Wood said among all the text exchanges, there was “precious little” to suggest the defendant was seeking contact with his former partner’s child.

Read more: County Durham sex offender guilty of 'persistent' court 

Recorder Paul Reid told Nixon he had put himself “at risk” of a prison sentence by engaging in the exchange of texts with the woman.

“You said, when asked, you didn’t really understand that it put you in breach.

“It has to be said the terms of the order are always made clear, and the consequences of any breaches are made clear.

“But, I do appreciate it’s at the lower end of offences of this nature.”

He, therefore, extended Nixon’s suspended 16-week sentence for 12 months and made him subject a further 30 rehabilitation activity days, overseen by the Probation Service.

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