A CONVICTED paedophile who was sent to live in Carlisle after his release from prison fled, disappearing for two years, a court heard.

Paul Redpath, 51, was originally jailed in 2006 for sexually abusing teenage girls aged 13 and 15 in Northern Ireland but Probation Service officials have concluded he continues to pose a high risk of reoffending,

Carlisle Crown Court heard how he had been released from a jail term he had served in Northumberland in August, 2019, and sent to Carlisle to take up accommodation in the city. But shortly after arriving, he absconded.

The defendant, whose disappearance prompted a national appeal on the BBC Crimewatch programme, was on the run for two years.

He pleaded guilty to three offences: breaching his sexual harm prevention order by leaving Cumbria without permission and twice failing to comply with his duty to notify police annually of his whereabouts, in 2020 and 2021.

He was caught in December last year in Sussex, when police arrested him over unrelated allegations which were not proceeded with.

Andrew Evans, mitigating, outlined for the court Redpath’s unusual history of offending, which since his original jail term had consisted of 18 breaches of the orders relating to his status as a sex offender.

“He’s spent more than a decade in prison over the last 14 years,” said the barrister. Referring to Redpath’s disappearance from Carlisle, Mr Evans said he had arrived at the hostel in question and was immediately recognised by residents who had been in HMP Northumberland with him.

“They knew exactly what he was in prison for,” said Mr Evans. Feeling "threatened", Redpath absconded. Mr Evans said what happened mirrored Redpath’s history since his first conviction.

In Northern Ireland, when released from jail in 2010, he was given accommodation on the once notorious Shankhill Road in west Belfast, said Mr Evans.

Local vigilantes wearing balaclavas beat him badly. “On a second occasion, he was held at gunpoint, the message being ‘Leave Belfast now,” said the prosecutor. Police had "shipped him out of the country", telling him to never return.

In the years that followed, said Mr Evans, Redpath moved from town to town, being recognised and targeted repeatedly, with poison pen letters and bricks through windows.

The barrister continued: “He formed a relationship while living in Aberdeen but the lady, he said, was murdered and he still bears the psychological scars." Repeatedly, the defendant was forced to move away, moving ever further south.

He was arrested after youths picked on him and he threw a bottle at them, said Mr Evans. The barrister asked the judge to consider "the psychological impact" of Redpath’s many jail sentences, pointing out that he had committed no “substantial sexual offences” since 2006.

Passing sentence, Recorder Peter Horgan told Redpath: “You say you were again threatened, a continuing pattern for many years.” But Redpath could not simply ignore the court’s orders, said the judge.

While noting the impact on the defendant’s mental health of jail, Recorder Horgan pointed out that Probation officials had assessed Redpath as posing a “high risk” to the public. He jailed him for two years.

Redpath has 63 offences on his criminal record.  When he went missing, police issued an urgent appeal, stating that Redpath was last seen in the Kendal area but also had links with west Cumbria, Preston and Scotland.