A convicted sex offender failed to sign-on at a police station after his release from prison because he’d gone to the pub, ‘got drunk, got lost’ then spent two weeks sleeping rough, a court heard.

Michael Hardisty, 40, was released from HMP Pentonville in north London on August 21, and was due to meet his probation officer the following day.

But the Headington man skipped the probation meeting in favour of a more pressing appointment; down the local pub.

Oxford Mail: Michael Hardisty's mugshot Picture: Thames Valley PoliceMichael Hardisty's mugshot Picture: Thames Valley Police (Image: Thames Valley Police)

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Defending, David Pallett told Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Monday: “In his own admission to the police, he went to the pub, got drunk, got lost and was then sleeping rough in and around London for several weeks before he made his way back to Oxford to live at his mother’s address.”

The court heard Hardisty, of Bernwood Road, Oxford, was first placed on the sex offender register in 2017 after he was convicted of indecent exposure.

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Since then, he has been in and out of custody for breaching sex offender notification requirements that he register his address with the police.

Hardisty pleaded guilty on Monday to breaching notification requirements and being in breach of his post-prison release licence.

The magistrates jailed him for 42 days, telling bearded Hardisty: “We are looking to you to take control of your own circumstances.”

He will have to pay a £154 victim surcharge upon his release from custody.