A PAEDOPHILE who three times flouted a court order first imposed after he requested naked pictures from a 12-year old has been spared jail.

Liam Cross, of Leighsanne Court, Mewburn Road, Banbury, was first handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order for the offence in 2015.

That order included a number of restrictions on the 23-year old, including not deleting his internet history.

Despite this Cross was back in court yesterday facing one count of breaching that order by deleting internet history and pleaded guilty to the offence.

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Outlining the case prosecutor Matthew Knight said that the latest breach wasn't the first time he had disregarded the order.

On the first breach Cross bought an iPhone without informing the relevant authorities and on the second occasion he was cautioned for deleting internet browsing history.

The latest breach took place in July last year when he deleted the Instagram application from a Kindle device.

This was considered a breach because deleting the app also deletes images and chat history.

The court heard that he deleted the application because the 'temptation' while using Instagram online was too great.

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In mitigation at the hearing his defence barrister Shina Animashaun said that his client had caused no harm to others and that the deletion of the Instagram application had not permanently erased the internet history.

He added that breaching the order was 'not deliberate'.

Sentencing, Judge Ian Pringle QC said the offence was at a the 'bottom end' of the range of offending.

Cross was handed a community order for three years to include 15 days rehabilitation activity requirement and participation in the Horizon programme designed to tackle his offending.

He must also pay a victim surcharge.