A mother of two was horrified to discover that her partner was a convicted child sex offender.

The woman contacted the police in April this year after Andrew Edgson had disappeared from her life and she learned he was in prison. She told them she had been in a relationship with him for 18 months and was unaware of his criminal history.

Sentencing 38-year-old Edgson to 12 months in prison, Judge Recorder David Knifton, QC, stated: "The police notified her, to her utter shock and distress, that you had been convicted and sentenced for serious sexual offences against a child. She disclosed that between the date of your conviction - of which she was unaware - and the date of sentence - of which she was unaware - you had been living with her and her children."

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Edgson had begun a relationship with the woman in 2019, which became serious enough for him to move into her Bootle home. In December of last year, he disappeared but a few days later, he called her from prison claiming to be at a police station "sorting something out."

The judge continued: "You again misled her about your whereabouts and the circumstances of your detention. She was horrified to discover that you had been convicted of a serious sexual offence you had not told her about and clearly thought, with some justification, that the only purpose of that failure to disclose such a conviction was to continue your relationship with her and her children. These failures by you to disclose to her the true circumstances led to her feeling anxious and distressed. She has contemplated moving house because you know where she and her children live. She feels utterly betrayed by someone she describes as dangerously manipulative."

Recorder Knifton also stated: "You flagrantly breached the registration scheme from the outset."

Edgson, with no fixed address but formerly from Huyton, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with registration requirements under Sexual Offences provisions. Chris Taylor, prosecuting, revealed that Edgson had been imprisoned for 14 months in December 2020 for the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in early 2019. Under the terms of the Sexual Offences Register, he was obligated to inform the police of his residence, but he failed to disclose that he was living with the woman and her two children after his release.

Jim Smith, defending, argued that Edgson's actions were "selfish and stupid" and committed because he feared the destruction of his relationship with his new partner.