Homeless Wakefield pervert jailed over police station confusion
An offender has been jailed after he failed to attend the police station to sign on the sex offender register.
Mark Smithurst was given a suspended sentence in January for indecent exposure and ordered to keep the authorities notified of his whereabouts.
In June he failed to keep in touch and was given a month’s jail. But after being freed, he again failed to notify the police within three days of where he was living.
It was only when an officer spotted him on Kirkgate in Wakefield on November 29 and realised he was wanted. He was taken back into custody, prosecutor Anthony Moore told Leeds Crown Court.
The 58-year-old appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds and admitted his latest breach.
He has 45 previous convictions mainly for thefts and shoplifting. He was given four months’ jail, suspended for 24 months for the indecent exposure earlier this year, but no further details were disclosed to the court.
Mitigating, Andrew Semple said Smithurst was not an “habitual sex offender” and added: “This is not a case the defendant is rebelling against the notification. He knows it’s present and does not seek to avoid it.”
He said Smithurst, who is addicted to drugs, was sleeping on the streets and thought he was required to go to the police station in Normanton, and did not realise he could attend another, closer station.
The judge, the Recorder of Leeds Guy Kearl KC, told him: “You have a long record but it’s the only sexual matter on your record. Your engagement on this suspended sentence has been poor, perhaps largely because of your homelessness.”
He said there was little option but the jail him, handing him four months, and activating two months of his suspended sentence, making a total of six months.