A man made subject of a sexual risk order recently breached it in under a fortnight by responding to a message from a 12-year-old girl and then initiating further contact.

Knowing he was prohibited from contacting anyone under 17, and aware of the girl’s age, Luke Tyson suggested, “doing something” with her, but warned her: “We would have to keep it a big secret.”

Durham Crown Court heard that any plans to take things further were thwarted after the girl’s mother confiscated her phone, on June 16.

Martin Towers, prosecuting, said on checking through her daughter’s Instagram messages she discovered she had been in contact with 21-year-old Tyson, someone she knew as he had previously had a friendship with her elder daughter.

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Mr Towers said it became evident to her, on looking at the messages, that her daughter had initiated contact with an innocent posting, offering an apology over something she had said about Tyson previously.

But more exchanges followed and Tyson invited the girl to add him to Snapchat, which she duly did.

The following day the defendant sent her a message on Snapchat, saying: “Just been thinking about what we said yesterday and if you did want to do something, we could, but we would have to keep it a big secret.”

Mr Towers said the concerned mother interpreted it as Tyson wanting to do something sexual with her daughter.

The girl responded by sending Tyson a non-sexual photograph of herself, but there was no further contact before the exchanges came to light, thanks to the concerns and scrutiny of her mother.

Mr Towers said the messaging began on June 15, just 11 days after Tyson was made subject of a three-year Risk of Sexual Harm Order, by County Durham magistrates, the day before his 21st birthday.

When arrested on June 18 he conceded he had breached the order and claimed his reference to keeping it “secret” in the messaging, related just to the communication in general and nothing more than that.

The defendant, of The Spinney, Easington Village, admitted breaching the Risk of Sexual Harm Order when he appeared before magistrates, who sent the case to be sentenced at the crown court.

Mr Towers told the sentencing hearing that the defendant’s four previous offences were for making indecent images of children in all three categories of severity and for possessing extreme pornography, for which he received a youth referral order, in August 2020.

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Cole Cockburn, for Tyson, said there was little he could say about the offence, other than accepting it was, “a serious breach, which should be a salutary lesson for him.”

Mr Cockburn told the court: “He realises the gravity of speaking to this girl and he should not have responded to contact by her.”

But he said the defendant’s comments in the messages were, “not overtly of a sexual nature” or particularly prolonged.

Mr Cockburn said his behaviour could be addressed by him taking part in, “a robust programme of rehabilitation”, overseen by the Probation Service, which would enable him to also conclude an apprenticeship.

But Judge Nathan Adams told the defendant he breached the first of the terms on the order imposed by the magistrates on June 4 only 11 days later.

“You breached it almost immediately by having conversation with a girl only 12-years-old.

“She may have initiated the messages, but you responded.

“It’s quite clear you knew who you were talking to and you knew her age.

“You said it was, ‘a bit weird’, but the next day you continued communication with her.

 “It’s quite clear you knew you were not to have contact with young persons and you knew you were doing something you shouldn’t have been doing.

“There was a clear overtone in that sort of contact.”

Judge Adams said even at the defendant’s still relatively young age, and despite other mitigating features to the case, he could not suspend the sentence.

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He imposed an immediate six-month custodial sentence of which Tyson must serve up to three months in custody before his release under licence supervision.

Judge Adams warned Tyson of the consequences of any more breaches, which would put him at risk of further time behind bars.

Tyson remains subject to the terms of the Risk of Sexual Harm Order, which runs until June 3, 2027.