A REGISTERED sex offender who breached a court order was told by a judge that strict conditions were intended to be inconvenient and onerous.

Terence O’Neil, now aged 45, was punished at Carlisle Crown Court in 2017 for possessing a sickening stash of images showing the sexual abuse of children.

Some victims were aged just two or three, prompting a judge to conclude that O’Neil’s crimes were “revolting”.

O’Neil was given a suspended jail term and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register under the terms of notification requirements. He was also made subject to the tough terms of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) which imposed restrictions on his online use.

In 2020, O’Neil was handed a caution for a notification requirement breach. Last year he was fined for flouting the SHPO.

And in August 2023, further non-compliance came to light.

Brendan Burke, prosecuting, told Carlisle Crown Court today (Monday): “Acting on information received, police attended the defendant’s grandfather’s home, he having recently, prior to that, notified them of that alternative address.”

There was no answer when officers first called but, when they returned 30 minutes later, O’Neil was leaving the address with a dog.

He was initially reluctant to admit entry. After police seized two laptops and made checks, it emerged that no approved monitoring software had been fitted — as specified by the SHPO.

O’Neil, previously of Carlisle and latterly of Corkickle, Whitehaven, admitted two order breaches.

Defence lawyer Marion Weir told the court: “He accepts the position he finds himself in.”

Recorder Tony Hawks said O’Neil’s compliance and motivation to continue his rehabilitation had saved him from immediate custody.

A nine-month jail term was suspended for 18 months. O’Neil must complete further rehabilitation work and a three-month alcohol treatment requirement.

“You are getting very close to getting yourself locked up,” said the judge. “What you have got to understand is that you committed a very serious offence back in 2017.

“Because of that, measures are put in place to regulate your behaviour for the protection of the public. So it may be convenient, it may be onerous; well, it is meant to be because you are a marked man, whether you like it or not.”

Recorder Hawks added: “This is the very last time the court is willing to put up with any more breaches of this order.

"It is up to you.”