A SEX offender who breached his register requirements left police unable to check up on him.

Shahid Rahim, who was previously convicted of sexual assault, was fortunate to be handed a suspended sentence at the time.

But the 62-year-old has again been allowed to walk free from court for breaching the requirements imposed upon him.

He appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, May 22, after being charged with breaching sex offender register requirements and breaching a suspended sentence.

Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting, explained that Rahim pleaded guilty to the offences when matters were brought before Warrington Magistrates’ Court.

He was ordered to sign the sex offender register and abide by notification requirements on December 14, 2021.

This came following his conviction at Snaresbrook Crown Court in London of sexual assault, for which he was also sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years.

All those on the sex offender register must register with the police within three days of conviction, providing details such as their address and passport details, as well as notify officers of all foreign travel, bank details or if they are living with any children.

Failure to comply with requirements is a criminal offence, carrying a penalty of up to five years imprisonment.

On February 21, the defendant was registered with police as living in a flat on Arpley Street in the town centre.

Police attended the address on a number of occasions to verify his residence, but he was never present. They even left a note asking him to get in touch, however he never did.

On March 3, police managed to get in touch with Rahim by phone, and he told them he was at a different address on Lovely Lane, but was still residing on Arpley Street.

He agreed to meet them at the flat, with the court hearing that it ‘was clear nobody was living there’. He later admitted to officers that he was staying at the Lovely Lane address with his family.

Ms Nemat described his actions as a ‘deliberate’ breach and failure to comply with his sex offender register requirements, with ‘some harm’ in the form of him ‘going unnoticed with police unable to check up on him’.

In his defence, Emily Land spoke of how he has completed all of his 25 Horizon sex offender treatment programme sessions and 80 hours of unpaid work also imposed as part of his suspended sentence.

A representative of the Probation Service also commented that his compliance with the rehabilitative elements of his sentence was ‘excellent’.

The court heard how he moved to Warrington from down south to support his wife in raising their three children.

Ms Land added that her client ‘knows what he did was wrong’, while his actions were ‘not a deliberate attempt to evade police, and he did not mean any harm’.

Rahim was sentenced by judge Gary Woodhall to six months in prison suspended for 12 months.