A jailed sex offender who wants to vary his sexual harm prevention order was attacked in prison, a court heard.
Joshua de Banks, 24, has applied to Oxford Crown Court to vary the court order, which was originally imposed in 2019. He is currently serving a two year sentence for breaching the same order.
His case returned before Judge Ian Pringle QC this week, de Banks – now known as Hunter Lee Swift – complained that he had been attacked in HMP Bullingdon as a result of the public court proceedings being reported in this newspaper.
“It’s put me in the same amount of danger as previously,” said de Banks, who was first convicted in 2019 for swapping sexually-explicit messages with a teen boy.
READ MORE: Jail for 'consummate liar' who breached court order
Judge Pringle said it was ‘very regrettable’ that the sex offender had been assaulted.
He added: “These are public matters. The press are entitled to report about them and there is nothing I can do. I can’t make an order in relation to that.
“I just hope the governor [of HMP Bullingdon] will ensure you are given proper protection from any idiots who decide they are going to take any action against you.”
De Banks, formerly of Field Avenue, Oxford, will return to the crown court on September 6 for a half-day hearing when a judge will decide whether his sexual harm prevention order should be varied.
The court heard that the defendant had written a detailed application himself. The precise aspects of the order that he wants lifted are yet to be set out in open court. However, Tracey Tinsley, solicitor for Thames Valley Police, said de Banks’ application was opposed by the force.
The defendant was first made subject to the sexual harm prevention order in 2019, after he was convicted of exchanging sexually-explicit messages with an underage boy. He had earlier been given a child abduction warning notice by the police ordering him not to have contact with the 15-year-old.
His order was initially made indefinitely, but was later reduced to 10 years by the Court of Appeal.
In May this year, he received a two-year jail term for multiple breaches of the sexual harm prevention order.
He breached the order by using library computers, which cannot save their internet history, and using a friend’s phone to access WhatsApp and his emails.
De Banks had also acquired a smartphone, which was eventually found beneath his oven, that he had not registered with police – a requirement of the court order.
Jailing him in the spring, Judge Michael Gledhill QC described the defendant as a ‘consummate liar’.
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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
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