A CONVICTED sex offender who contacted two members of a youngsters' Cricket side in defiance of a court order, has been jailed for six months.

John Gidlow was seen chatting to a a boy at Ribblesdale Wanderers Cricket Club, Clitheroe just three months after having been made the subject of a full Sex Offences Prevention Order.

But the defendant also contacted a boy after seeing his photograph in a newspaper. He wrote him letters and even made a sexually inappropriate comment towards him in a telephone call.

Gidlow, 61, of Chatburn Road, Clitheroe admitted three offences of breaching a Sex Offences Prevention Order.

Preston Crown Court heard that an original, interim SOPO, was made as a result of concerns about his behaviour on the local cricket scene.

The order was then made into a full one following a four-day hearing. Under the terms, Gidlow was prohibited from having contact or trying to contact anyone under 16, or attend or join sports or leisure clubs.

He was allowed to attend Ribblesdale Wanderers Cricket Club, but only in the public areas.

Mr Philip Potter, prosecuting, said around three months after the full order was made, Gidlow chatted alone with a boy during a match.

An off duty detective was at the club and someone pointed out to him that Gidlow was a convicted sex offender.

Following Gidlow's arrest it was discovered that he had contacted another cricketer for the same club, after spotting his picture in a newspaper. He sent three unsolicited letters to him and also made a sexually inappropriate remark during a telephone conversation.

Back in 1985 Gidlow had been jailed for seven offences of indecent assaults on males under 16, while housemaster at a boys boarding school in the south of England.

In 1987 he went back to the Clitheroe, the area where he had been born.

Richard Prew, defending, said Gidlow had "fell at the first hurdle" after the full order was made.