Convicted paedophile returned to prison after violating monitoring order with hidden apps

During a routine inspection in October of the previous year, police discovered that Thomas Lee had installed the iHappy dating application and other social media tools on his phone, actions that violated his sexual harm prevention order. At Leeds Crown Court, Lee acknowledged three separate breaches of the SHPO and admitted missing a mandatory police registration appointment in May, constituting a breach of the sex offender register.

He was originally sentenced in July 2024 to 16 months for four counts of attempted sexual communication with a child and received a ten-year SHPO and offender-register placement. Prosecutor Emily Jenkins argued that Lee’s conduct showed a clear intent to thwart monitoring, leading to a six-month suspended sentence. Defense lawyer Thomas Doyle noted Lee’s sobriety and past alcohol issues but conceded that prison was likely unavoidable. Judge Howard Crowson described Lee’s actions as deliberate and affirmed that incarceration was inevitable given his history of breaches.