A serial sex offender who breached a stringent order designed to keep him away from children has been jailed for more than three years.
David Powell duped a woman into starting a relationship with him, failing to tell her that he was subject to a 20-year sexual offences prevention order.
The order, imposed in 2007, was designed to prevent Powell from being in the presence of children.
But the 35-year-old has repeatedly flouted the order since it was imposed and was most recently found in the company of a child between October 1-10 at an address in Arbroath without supervision or the permission of the police.
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Powell, a prisoner of HMP Perth, pleaded guilty to the offence at Dundee Sheriff Court with the court hearing that the woman had no idea of his previous convictions until she was informed by a relative.
Defence solicitor Nick Whelan said that Powell had no “nefarious purpose” nor had he deliberately tried to gain access to children.
Mr Whelan told Sheriff Robert Dickson that Powell feels that he is unable to live a normal life at liberty due to the restrictive nature of the order.
He said: “He simply did not tell her about his past because he feared that she would end the relationship.
“There is no suggestion that he had been deliberately concealing these matters to gain access to the children inappropriately. He recognises that custody is almost inevitable.”
Sheriff Dickson jailed Powell for 26 months which will be served after he completes 170 days of an unexpired sentence.
Thereafter, a further 10 months was imposed as a result of Powell breaching the terms of a restriction of liberty order.
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