Manchester United bed sheet pervert returned to court over sex offender course no-show

The judge told Andrew Stevens this week that he avoided custody the first-time around "by the skin of his teeth", but since then has missed three appointments for the Horizon programme, aimed at preventing participants from re-offending. He was ordered to enrol on the course as part of a suspended sentence order.

Appearing back at Leeds Crown Court, the 38-year-old admitted breaching the terms of the sentence. Judge Robin Mairs said he had made it "crystal" what would happen to him when he sentenced him if he failed to apply himself, meaning he would lock him up.

A report into Stevens found that he lapsed back into crack cocaine use, but had since "re-engaged" with services. As a result, Judge Mairs said he would vary his sentence, remove the sex offender programme element, impose 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a four-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

He told him: "You were very fortunate to get a suspended sentence, you got away with it by the skin of your teeth. But anymore sleeping in and you will go through that door behind you [to prison]."

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Predator Stevens, now of Gilpin View, Armley, was previously caught out twice trying to groom young girls online, first by an online paedophile hunter group, and then while on bail, was trapped by undercover police officers.

He first made contact with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl in June of 2018 via an online app. He turned the conversation sexual and sent the "girl" photos of his genitals. Dark Justice was behind the decoy profile and passed his details to police.

But after being arrested, interviewed and released on bail, he targeted what he thought was a 12-year-old girl on the messenger app KIK in March 2021, which turned out to be a police officer using a decoy profile. Stevens sent pictures of himself in different women’s underwear, and pics of him laying on a bed with a Manchester United duvet cover.

Seizing a Samsung phone, police found indecent images of children with evidence that he had distributed them, and possession of an extreme pornographic photo involving a dog.

He admitted charges including inciting a girl under 13 into sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child, sexual communication with a child, two counts of possessing indecent photographs, two counts of distributing indecent images and possession of an extreme pornographic image.

He was given 24 months’ jail, suspended for 24 months, ordered him to take part in a sex offenders course, put on the sex offender register for 10 years and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use.