A rapist from Gloucestershire could not be sentenced for breaching a court order – as his barrister was on strike.

Kelvin Vincent, 52, appeared before Oxford Crown Court this morning expecting to learn his fate after earlier pleading guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order and the terms of his sex offender notification requirement.

But the hearing could not go ahead, as the barrister representing the former Gloucestershire man was on strike. Barristers across England and Wales have this week staged a mass walk-out in protest over the government’s refusal to increase criminal Legal Aid fees by 25 per cent.

READ MORE: Explainer: Why barristers from Oxford are going on strike

Prosecutor Alice Aubrey-Fletcher told the court on Tuesday: “In light of the fact there is no one here to mitigate on his behalf the Crown don’t oppose any adjournment.”

Recorder John Hardy QC was told that Vincent had been recalled to prison on licence, having been jailed at Gloucester Crown Court in 2016 for raping a woman. His licence period was due to end in March 2024, although he had a Parole Board hearing later this year to discuss whether he could be safely released.

Adjourning the case until July 7, when members of the criminal bar are not due to be on strike, Recorder Hardy said: “You are unrepresented. It is important in a case of this gravity that you are represented. Therefore I am going to adjourn the case unless you seek to persuade me to do otherwise.”

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Vincent, whose address was given in court papers as HMP Littlehey, near Huntington, pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates’ Court last month to two counts of breaching his sexual harm prevention order and his sex offender notification requirements.

Both court orders were imposed in 2016, after he was jailed at Gloucester Crown Court for raping a sleeping woman.

Those sexual assaults were carried out in Northleach, Gloucestershire, between 2003 and 2004. He also admitted filming a naked girl in a bath and possession of extreme pornographic bestiality material depicting oral sex and intercourse involving horses and dogs.

He admitted deleting his internet in breach of his sexual harm prevention order on November 19 last year.

Between May 1, 2020, and November 9 last year he also breached the order by having unsupervised contact with a child under-16.

Vincent breached the terms of his sex offender notification requirements by failing to tell the police he was staying in a property in Chipping Norton where a child under-16 was living and failed to register an address with his public protection officer.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward