Sunderland sex offender gets his wish of returning to jail after being shunned by fellow homeless people

A recently freed high-risk sex offender who wanted to be back in jail has been granted his wish by a court.

Callum MacGregor, 27, has been caged for 12 weeks for deliberately failing to inform police of his whereabouts – breaching his licence terms.

His solicitor David Forrester told magistrates homeless MacGregor would likely commit further such wrongdoings until his freedom was removed.

In a bizarre twist, he said this was partly because his client had been shunned by rough-sleepers aware of his offending history and could not rely on their support while living on the streets.

MacGregor, previously of Claremont Terrace, Ashbrooke, was sentenced to four years in a youth offender institution by a judge at Cardiff Crown Court in 2015.

He committed three sex assaults against a female aged under 13 and caused or incited a girl aged under 13 to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity.

And he was also convicted of a charge of making indecent photos of a child, all between January 1 and July 6, 2015.

MacGregor was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely, with a requirement he informs police once a year of his home address and notifies of any change.

At his latest court hearing, he admitted breaching the notification requirements of the register on Saturday, April 13– his fifth such offence.

Prosecutor Sarah Malkinson said: “On April 13, he attended the front office of Southwick police station and said he had failed to register living at an address.

“He had been residing at a hotel and hadn’t informed the police. I would place this as a deliberate failure to comply, but there’s no evidence of distress caused.”

MacGregor was described in court by the Probation Service as being a "high risk offender".

Tom Morgan, defending, said: “He was released homeless from custody on April 4. He used the money that he had on hotels but has run out of money.

“He has no support network. His offences are known to the homeless community and it’s not an option for him to ask for support.

“It’s his hope that he goes to prison today. He hasn’t said that, but he has surrendered himself and has admitted it.

“The offence, on the face of it, is to receive a prison sentence. I would be surprised if there wasn’t continuation until that’s achieved.”

Magistrates in South Tyneside ordered MacGregor, who could have been jailed for 36 weeks, to pay a £154 victim surc