Homeless sex offender given jail warning after failing to inform police of whereabouts four times

District Judge Zoe Passfield told Aaron Greenhow, 29, jail was a possible outcome should he miss future signing dates with officers.

Greenhow, of no fixed abode, was convicted of a sex attack on a female in 2014, the borough’s magistrates’ court was told.

His punishment included being made subject to the notification requirements of the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Under the terms of the order, he must inform police of his whereabouts once a week if made homeless and not having a registered address.

The court heard Greenhow was sofa surfing after being asked to leave his parents’ home and his chaotic lifestyle led him to lose track of appointments.

He missed registering-on days with police on Saturday, June 4, Sunday, July 3, Monday, July 11 and Monday, August 1, it was said.

Prosecutor John Garside said: “He is subject to the notification requirements.

“As a result of being of no fixed abode, he has to go to a police station every seven days but on four occasions he failed to do so.”

Greenhow pleaded guilty to four breaches of the notification requirements.

David Forrester, defending, told the court: “He’s created this offence for himself by signing late.”

The Probation Service told the hearing Greenhow was leading a “chaotic lifestyle” after leaving his parents’ address.

It said he appears “childlike” in conversation, has a diagnosis of schizophrenia, used cocaine “intermittently” and smoked cannabis.

But its report into his notification failures also said they had not been committed deliberately and were due to “mismanagement”.

Greenhow was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with 20 rehabilitation days and he must pay a £95 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.

District Judge Zoe Passfield told him: “I’ve heard the explanation as to why this happened.

“You now have five convictions for failing to comply with the notification requirements.

“You must comply with them from now on. If you breach again, it could result in a prison sentence.”