A CONVICTED sex offender breached a court order by playing football, unsupervised, with a child.

Jonathan Lewis Fell, 22, was originally sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court in December, 2018, for six crimes. Three involved causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; one publishing an obscene article; and two of making indecent photographs.

Fell’s punishment was a three-year community order, attendance on a sex offender treatment course and he was also made subject to the strict terms of a five-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

One SHPO condition prohibited unsupervised contact with any child aged under 18.

However, Fell flouted that order months later, in May 2019, after being invited to an address for Sunday lunch. “That being, in effect, playing football (with a child) outside the house,” prosecutor Tim Evans told the crown court, “unsupervised by an adult”.

Fell, of Wastwater Avenue, Workington, appeared in front of a judge to be sentenced having admitted breaching both the SHPO and also the community order.

A psychological report concluded Fell suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “But it also comes to the conclusion Mr Fell is unable to engage in any form of discussion as to what traumatic events may have occurred in his life,” Mr Evans noted.

Brendan Burke, defending, said of the PTSD diagnosis: “That needs to be fixed before anything else can be fixed.”

Judge Nicholas Barker gave Fell a four-month jail term for breaching the SHPO but observed that, having been remanded in custody since August, the defendant may face imminent or immediate release.

“The point of these orders is that they are there to protect others. That is why they must be adhered to,” stated the judge.

Judge Barker also imposed 25 days’ rehabilitation for flouting the community order.

“Your problems, your difficulties, will not go away until you begin to address them,” he said. “If you do not engage with the professionals who are there to help you, they will not be able to address your offending behaviour.”