A man found guilty of sexual assault breached his court requirements after he failed to tell police he had moved to Burnley.

Connor McInearney, 27, of Windsor Street, was arrested by police on January 28 after they were investigating another matter surrounding the person who he was living with at the time. 

Burnley Crown Court heard McInearney was sentenced to a seven year notification order after he was found guilty of sexual assault in April 2023.

Prosecutor Beth Piling told the court he was also found guilty of public indecency on July 11, 2023, and was put on the sex offenders register list.

The court heard that in November, McInearney was evicted from his home in Dundee, Scotland, with the landlords changing the locks.

His notification order required McInearney to notify the police when he moved addresses within three days, but did not admit he had moved in with a friend in Burnley until many weeks after.

Kristian Cavanagh, in mitigation, told the court that while McInearney had to be found by police, he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and had not breached his requirements before.

He said: "He was embarrassed to find himself on the notification requirement when he moved out of the area.

"He was in regular work before the offence, being employed as a digger and working on projects as big as HS2, and has prospects of going into similar work moving forward."

McInearney pleaded guilty to failure to comply with notification requirements ,and has 17 convictions for 37 previous offences.

Recorder Mark Harrington sentenced McInearney to six months imprisonment.

He said: "You are 27 years old with a previous criminal record. 

"I have no doubt it was explained to you what is exactly meant by the requirements of this order, including letting the police know of a change of your address, even if this was put down as 'no fixed abode'.

"You failed to notify the police for a significant amount of time, and for six weeks the police did not know where you were.

"The purpose of this order is to protect the public, and I think it is appropriate to sentence you to send you to immediate custody."