A MAN who breached a sexual harm prevention order by having contact with girls under 16 has avoided being sent back to jail.

Daniel Rakestraw of Revidge Road, Blackburn, was sent to prison in July 2017 after being found guilty of three counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, and was made subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order

On Friday, he was back in court after it came to light he had breached the 10 year order by having contact with three girls between the ages of 12 and 15.

The court heard that Rakestraw, 25, had been released from prison under licence earlier this year and between then and October had attended three gatherings where this contact had been made possible.

Prosecuting, James Preece said despite there being no evidence that his behaviour was sexual, Rakestraw had made no effort to enquire as to the actual age of these girls, making the assumption that all of them were over the age of 16.

Defending, Shirlie Duckworth asked for a conditional discharge, saying: "Yes, he made deliberate contact with girls he believed to be over 16, but there was no harm or distress caused to the victims and if you look at the facts, it isn't as serious as it looks. He has a level of immaturity and therefore, associating with people younger than him is understandable."

Presiding over the case in Preston, Judge Andrew Woolman said: "You pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order in that you had contact with three girls who were under the age of 16 and you also had contact with one of the girls via Facebook.

"The police were made aware of this contact after a routine visit to your address in October, where you told officers you had had contact other than the contact on social media. It turned out that you had attended a few gatherings which resulted in you being in the presence of and speaking to girls under the age of 16.

"It's clear there were many other people at these gatherings and there is no suggestion that anything untoward happened on any of those occasions. There was no reason for you to think any of these girls were underage and so I come to the conclusion that these breaches were not intentional and these children were in no danger."

Rakestraw, who was cleared of rape in 2013, was handed a conditional discharge of two years.