A 28-year-old registered sex offender from Colchester has been jailed for 26 months after breaching the terms of a suspended prison sentence order just weeks after it was imposed.

Michael Vinson was initially given a two-year jail term, suspended for two years, on June 16, 2022, following conversations he had over a month with an undercover police officer posing as someone with two nieces aged seven and ten.

During their communication on the Kik messaging app, Vinson detailed his sexual interests, requested pictures, and asked for the children's underwear, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

However, there was no evidence that Vinson had actually booked or taken any form of transport to meet the fictitious girls. He also made an excuse to the undercover officer regarding his inability to meet them.

Vinson, of Axial Close, Colchester, pleaded guilty at Ipswich Crown Court last year to attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence in 2021. He also admitted possessing two extreme pornographic still images and four videos depicting a person performing sex acts with an animal.

As part of the initial sentence, he was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, participate in a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement, and undergo a sex offenders' treatment programme. He was also subjected to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order and required to register as a sex offender for the same duration.

On Thursday, April 20, Vinson admitted breaching the suspended sentence order by violating both the sexual harm prevention order and sex offenders' registration requirements. He had stayed with a couple and their five-year-old daughter in Yorkshire between July 20-23, 2022, without disclosing his status as a registered sex offender. He also failed to inform the police about his change of address after staying there for more than 12 hours.

Richard Kelly, representing Vinson, stated that his client had become a social pariah since details of his initial court appearance were publicized last year, leading to a deterioration in his mental health. He emphasized that the impact of a prison sentence on Vinson would be significant.