A HIGH risk sex offender failed to comply with registration requirements because he was living in a tent.

Blackburn magistrates heard Lee Cottam claimed to have attended the police station to report his whereabouts but on both occasions the station was shut.

He also claimed to have tried to use the direct line phone outside the Blackburn town centre station but it wasn't working.

An officer provided a statement to say he had checked the phone and it was working correctly.

Cottam, 44, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to breaching notification requirements. He was jailed for 26 weeks and ordered to pay £128 victim surcharge on release.

Stacey Morrow, prosecuting, said Cottam had been jailed for 11 months for sexual assault in 2019 when the registration requirement had been imposed.

Because he was homeless he had to register with the police every week.

"He is well aware of the requirements and has been to prison on several previous occasions for breaching them," said Miss Morrow.

Jonathan Taylor, defending, said his client had tried to comply but it was not easy when you are living in a tent.

"He tries to tell the police where he is pitching the tent and roughly where he is going to be but there are obvious difficulties," said Mr Taylor.

"He says there would be CCTV which showed him attending the police station on two occasions and also of him trying to use the phone.

"It may have been working when the officer checked it but he is adamant it wasn't working when he tried to use it."