Sex offender beaten by ‘vigilantes’ jailed
ONE of two sex offenders tied up and assaulted by ‘vigilantes’ in south Armagh earlier this year was back in court yesterday for breaching the terms of his licence.
James White appeared at Belfast Crown Court, where he admitted two breaches of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).
The 48-year-old, whose address was given as Antrim Road in Belfast, pleaded guilty to owning both a Samsung mobile phone and tablet last October, without the prior approval of a designated risk manager.
He was handed a two-year sentence by Judge Geoffrey Miller QC. The first year will be in prison, the second on licence.
During yesterday’s sentencing, a barrister for White said the breaches occurred when he “disengaged” from the probation service, then went on the run.
She also revealed that White has been in police custody following an incident in April involving her client and a second man, Alexis Guesto, where the pair were “subjected to a savage attack, tied up and beaten... which appeared on social media”.
Crown prosecutor Gareth Purvis said White’s breaches came to light last October, when police searched his hostel accommodation.
A tablet and mobile phone were seized and later analysed.
Despite White calling a woman and accessing the internet searching for dogs and houses, Breached licence: James White was caught in possession of a mobile phone and a tablet the devices were not used for any activity deemed criminal, the court heard.
It was, however, a breach of the terms of his SOPO, and he later left the hostel without permission in February this year.
Mr Purvis said: “He was at large in the south, then made his way to the north. He was found with another sex offender in the south Armagh area in April.”
The court heard White had 47 previous convictions on both sides of the border which included sexual offences against “males, females and children”, with his last sexual offence against a child committed in 1994.
It also emerged that White was made the subject of a SOPO at Dungannon Crown Court last March, but he breached this last October by owning the Samsung mobile and tablet.
Regarding the incident in south Armagh, which led to White’s arrest, defence barrister Leona Gillen said: “No matter what someone thinks of the offences Mr White has committed, nobody deserves that level of violence and to be treated in this way.”
Judge Miller said: “It is not for vigilantes and so-called paedophile hunters to take the law into their own hands.”
The judge told White that he will not be eligible for release until next September and recommended that as part of his licence, White participates in programmes designed to reduce any risk he poses to the public.