A PAEDOPHILE whose case caused uproar when he was allowed to go free because of apparent police blunders was back in court today.

Child pornography pervert David Berry was hit with an order which means his activities will now be monitored and restricted by the authorities.

Judge Michael Taylor sparked fury in September when he spared 61-year-old Berry, despite saying: “This man fully deserves to go to prison.”

He blamed Cleveland Police for taking so long to bring the case to court and for an officer turning up late to show him the indecent images of children.

The judge also refused to impose a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) on Berry because he said the terms were “incomprehensible”.

Today, a new draft SOPO was put before the court, and Judge Taylor imposed it, telling Berry: “It will apply for the rest of your life.”

The order bans the sex offender from having unsupervised contact with under-18s, and fitting anti-forensic software to his computer.

Berry will also have to allow police risk management officers access to his Hartlepool home and let them examine the contents of his computer.

He was given a community order in September after he admitted 16 charges of making indecent images of children and possessing more than 500 others.

Police found the pictures and short films on six different storage devices during a raid at his home in Lowthian Road, Hartlepool, in July 2007.

Wheelchair-user Berry, who was jailed in 1988 for indecently assaulting a child, was also ordered to undergo a sex offenders’ treatment programme.

At Teesside Crown Court yesterday, controversial Judge Taylor again criticised the prosecution, describing it as “totally unsatisfactory”.

Berry’s barrister, Peter Sabiston, said: “I have discussed the draft SOPO with my client, and the prohibitions seem to be workable and reasonable.”

Last night, Berry’s daughter, Jayne, who criticised the decision to spare her father prison, welcomed the move to carefully monitor his activities.

The 35-year-old said: “He should have gone to jail last time, but I’m glad the order has finally been made, and hopefully it will prevent a repeat.”