Rapist convicted of South Shields attack sent back to prison after breaking court order

Thomas Hoare, 51, was watched by police as he pushed a little boy’s pedal cycle and also went into a newsagent with him while his mother waited outside.

His sexual offences prevention order, imposed after a conviction for rape, stated that he was to have no contact with children under 16.

On arrest, officers discovered that the paedophile had a passport, and had travelled overseas without telling his supervising officer.

Hoare, who now lives in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, but plans to return to England, had also breached bail conditions by failing to report to a police station.

He was jailed for 350 days when he appeared at Jedburgh Sheriff Court.

The sentence was backdated to November 11, when he was first remanded in custody, so he is now eligible for release.

Hoare, who was also known as Dodd, was jailed for 10 years at Newcastle Crown Court in September 2000 for raping a 10-year-old girl at a house in South Shields on New Year’s Day.

But he was caught six hours later when police saw him asleep in the back seat at a motorway service station and thought he was a drink -driver.

Hoare claimed he could not remember the assault, but forensic evidence against him was overwhelming, and he was jailed for six years.

At Jedburgh Sheriff Court, Hoare tried to deny he was on the sex offenders’ register.

He claimed that when he was sentenced for the rape, a deal was struck with prosecutors that he would not be subject to the notification requirements of the 2003 Sexual Offences Act to allow him to get on with his life on release.

However, at a proof hearing, procurator fiscal Graham Fraser produced documentary evidence stating Hoare was put on the sex offenders’ register for life after his rape conviction.

He said Hoare had “persuaded himself” over the past 18 years that he was not on the register and was in denial.

Sheriff Peter Paterson told Hoare that notification requirements would be “mandatory” for an offence of rape and dismissed his claim.

Following the ruling, Hoare pleaded guilty to four breaches of his sexual offences prevention order.

The court heard that, in January 2017, Hoare was seen by police in the company of a woman and her three-year-old child, despite the order.

Hoare also pleaded guilty to possessing a passport without the knowledge of his supervising officer between May and September 2017.

During that time, he had travelled to the Republic of Ireland and Spain without permission.