• SIMON, 60, had previous convictions for indecent assault and taking and distributing indecent photographs and videos of children.

  He was jailed for five years, with an extended period of five years’ licence, on release from prison.

  Although he had completed a sex offender treatment programme in jail, he was assessed as having a very high risk of reoffending and being a real danger to children. While in prison he kept photographs of young boys cut from magazines and children’s names, ages and website addresses were found in his diary.

  On his release he was managed by the Multi-Agency Public Protection team in Hampshire, housed in specialist accommodation and monitored. But he proved difficult, lying to his supervisor and making derogatory comments about victims of sexual abuse.

  He was intensively monitored, observed entering an internet café and downloading images of young boys. As a result he was recalled to prison.

• BARRY was coming to the end of a seven-year jail term for indecent assaults on children when his case was referred to the Multi-Agency Public Protection team in Leicestershire.

  He had been turned down repeatedly for early release on parole, but was coming to the point in his sentence where he had to be released automatically. With a record of 20 years of offending, mainly against children, Barry was assessed as “very high risk” particularly as there had been an escalation in the serousness of his assaults against children.

  He was required to live in a probation hostel and was the subject of stringent curfew conditions. When he was eventually allowed to leave on his own, Barry was observed stopping and staring at children.

  He was confronted about his behaviour by his probation officer and confessed that he had been thinking of offending and would have done so if the children had been alone.

  Although he had not committed any offence, the probation service decided that the risk he posed could not be successfully managed. He was recalled to prison.

Times Recommends

• UK regional accents thrive against the odds
• ‘Scarecrow’ wind farms put rare birds to flight
• What an anti-climax: G-spot is a myth