A PAEDOPHILE who came to York “on a whim” as he tried to avoid police checks and controls on him has been jailed.
Christopher Wright, 46, was jailed in 2014 for sexually assaulting a child under 13 and attempted kidnap at Preston Crown Court and put on the sex offenders’ register.
Following his release he had to tell police where he was living and any address at which he stayed. But he had repeatedly failed to tell police where he was.
His solicitor advocate Peter Minnikin said he had come to York “on a whim”.
Wright, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the requirements of the sex offenders' register.
He was jailed for seven months at York Crown Court.
It was the fifth time he had avoided police monitoring since he had been in prison.
He had also not gone to a probation hostel as he was supposed to when he was released and police had had to issue a public appeal in England and Scotland in order to locate him.
Prosecuting, Mollie Briggs told York Crown Court that Wright had to contact police every week to tell them where he was as he was homeless.
The last time police knew where he was he had told them he was living in Nottingham.
Then Wright went missing for a month until a police officer arrested him in York on a different matter and took him to Fulford Road Police Station. There he was identified as being wanted by Nottinghamshire Police because he hadn’t been in contact with them.
Police had been unaware of his location from September 17 to October 22.
Wright had previously been convicted four times of failure to comply with the sex offenders’ register, in March 2022, twice in December 2022 and once in May 2023.
Mr Minnikin said: “Rather on a whim, he decided to try his luck in York. Throughout this he is drinking heavily, he has had an alcohol problem since he was 18 years old."
Both Wright’s parents had died before he was 17.
When he was released from prison, Wright had gone to Glasgow. Police there told him about information circulating on the internet about him “of a particularly nasty nature” and he decided to move.
He was out of contact with his family and had no support network. He went to Nottingham where he was homeless and living on the street.
He also had learning disabilities because he had severe dyslexia and struggled to read and write, said Mr Minnikin.
He had been in York city centre when he was arrested.
While on remand, Wright had sought help with his alcohol problems.
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