Sex ban man’s court order cut to two years

♦ A father-of-two who must inform the police before having sex has had his court order cut to two years.

John O’neill, 47, an IT consultant, who has never been convicted of a violent or sexual offence, had the ban imposed indefinitely after he was cleared of rape in 2015.

The trial judge and North Yorkshire Police claimed O’neill, of no fixed address, was still a danger to women, despite the jury’s verdict, after hearing a series of confessions he had made to medical professionals in which he admitted beating a woman unconscious during intercourse and thinking “a lot” about killing her.

But Judge Andrew Stubbs QC has now agreed that the ban, which had been indefinite, should run for two years, after which the police can decide whether to apply to renew it.

Police applied for the amendment after reading the latest Court of Appeal judgment on court orders restricting sexual behaviour.