A sex offender who broke the terms of his bail was re-arrested after he was found sleeping rough in Tenby - after he had returned to the seaside town where he had been caught touching two girls in a sexual manner.

Fifty-two-year-old Stephen Haydn James pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault when he appeared at Swansea Crown Court last November; after being charged with touching a six-year-old and an 11-year-old in a sexual manner in two separate shops in Tenby town centre on September 16.

James (who had given his address in court as Station Road, Tenby) was sentenced to 13 months in prison; and would serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

He was put on the sex offender register for the next 10 years, and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

However, he appeared back before Swansea Crown Court last month, charged with breaching the notification requirements of the sex offender register.

The court heard that James had been released on licence on April 3, and relocated to Gwent; but the next month returned to Pembrokeshire, and registered at Haverfordwest Police Station, telling police officers that he was of no fixed abode and would likely be living in a tent.

As he was classed as homeless, James was informed that he would have to return to re-register at a police station every seven days; but he failed to do so, and also missed an appointment with the probation service; leading to Dyfed-Powys Police launching a public appeal on June 20 to find James.

Known for sleeping rough along coastal areas, and to spend a significant amount of time in the Tenby area, James was arrested the following morning at around 10am near Kiln Park Holiday site on the outskirts of Tenby, as he had been sleeping rough between there, South Beach and the Lydstep coastal path.

Police officers thanked those that had shared information with them, as the public appeal led directly to James being located.

James told officers that he was aware that he needed to register with the police, but had decided that he wasn’t going to bother, saying that he had made a conscious decision to avoid the police.

In court, James pleaded guilty to breaching his notification requirements, and was jailed for eight months.