Serial offender Patrick Cunnington, 24, admitted a ninth breach of his Sexual Risk Order (SRO) at Swindon Magistrates Court on September 8.

The SRO, granted in 2018, prohibits Cunnington from communicating with anyone under the age of 16. He was on bail for two other breaches of the order when he was arrested on September 7 and remanded in police custody overnight.

Cunnington, of Prospect Hill, Old Town, was living in a shared house and would regularly speak to his neighbor and her two children, aged 9 and 11, despite being unaware of his history as a sex offender. He would ask the children about their school holidays and their new hamster, and had even added his neighbor on Facebook on August 21.

In her statement, the children's mother described Cunnington as "very friendly," but expressed concern about his interactions with her children. She was unaware of his SRO and was shocked to learn of his history after her ex-partner discovered his Facebook profile and alerted her.

The court heard that Cunnington communicated with the children on approximately 30 occasions between April and September 5. While the mother was often present, there were instances where the children were alone with him. When police confronted Cunnington about this, he lunged at them with his fists clenched and had to be restrained.

The prosecution argued for Cunnington to be remanded in custody, citing the seriousness of the offense and his history of breaching the SRO. They expressed concern about the lack of any bail conditions that could effectively prevent further offenses.

The defense argued that Cunnington's actions were simply being neighborly and that he did not have any malicious intentions. They argued that sending him to prison would not be helpful and that he was simply immature and had trust issues with authority figures.

After considering the arguments, the magistrates decided to remand Cunnington into custody. The case was committed for sentence at Swindon Crown Court in October.