Convicted Hartlepool sex offender locked up for mobile phone

Stephen Vincent was given a suspended sentence in February after he was convicted of attempting to meet up with a teenage girl for sex.

The 58-year-old was issued with a ten-year sexual harm prevention order to help monitor his online activities after he sent a decoy an image of his naked torso and genitals while asking for photographs of the supposed 13-year-old girl.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the fire brigade contacted Cleveland Police after receiving a number of nuisance calls from Vincent in May this year.

Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting, said when police attended his address the defendant repeatedly denied owning a mobile phone despite using one to order a taxi.

A judge heard how Vincent eventually admitted having the mobile before handing it over to officers.

Mr Soppitt said the defendant was sentenced to two-years in prison, suspended for two years, after he pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming between December 31, 2022, and January 1, 2023.

Stephen Vincent (Image: Cleveland Police)

Vincent, of Grosvenor Gardens, Hartlepool, admitted breaching his SHPO after he failed to declare his mobile phone to authorities.

Martin Scarborough, mitigating, said his client claimed he had forgotten to register the mobile phone but accepted that Vincent wasn’t being honest.

He added that the defendant was being evicted after failing to declare his previous convictions to the landlords.

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Judge Jonathan Carroll activated the two-year suspended sentence with an additional four months in custody for breaching the terms of his SHPO.

“Having been convicted, a number of measures are imposed upon you in the public interest to manage the risk that you represent to the public, in particular the risk to women and young girls,” he said.

“You are a manipulative person. You have chosen not to tell your landlord about this conviction and that is one of the reasons leading to your imminent eviction.

“You have been attending your probation appointments but attending is not the same as complying. You have been minimalising the nature of what you have done and showing little or no insight.”