A registered sex offender who failed to tell police he was staying at a new address and used an internet alias has been jailed.

Ashley Hammond, 39, of Falklands Drive, Wisbech, was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register after being convicted in 2017 of meeting a girl under the age of 16 following sexual grooming.

He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order preventing him from having any unsupervised contact with children under 16 and having any device capable of accessing the internet.

But police found Hammond had failed to notify them of a new address he was staying at in Gloucester after getting into a new relationship.

He had also used an alias name on a games console – something he also should have declared.

Hammond was arrested for two counts of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register.

In police interview he admitted both offences, telling officers he had “forgot” to notify them of the new address.

He admitted staying at his new girlfriend’s house in Gloucester from late March and for all of April. He eventually told officers that he hadn’t notified them of the address as he knew they would inform his new girlfriend of his previous convictions.

Hammond pleaded guilty to both charges at Cambridge Crown Court.

He was sentenced the same day, and handed 18 months in prison, after also admitting breaching a suspended sentence for previous charges of the same nature.

Judge David Farrell QC told Hammond he had previously been given “yet another chance” to abide by the law but had ignored this.

He told Hammond he had been unable to comply with notification requirements put in place to protect women from him and his past behaviour, adding that he could have relationships but simply needed to comply with the requirements.

Judge Farrell warned Hammond that he couldn’t do the same again and said he had been “given enough chances” therefore only an immediate prison sentence was appropriate punishment.

Det Sgt Paul Stimpson, Cambridgeshire’s public protection unit, said: “Hammond had clearly not learnt his lesson after being put before the courts several times for breaching various conditions he must adhere to as being a registered sex offender living in our community.

“Upon Hammond’s release from prison he will again be under the management of my team who will monitor his day-to-day activity, his electronic devices and pay him unannounced visits.”