A CONVICTED sex offender who was once branded a danger and given an extended sentence for public protection has been back in court.

But this time, Ronald Harcourt was in the dock for deleting his Google searches and text messages to his girlfriend.

Harcourt, 56, was initially challenged over his relationship with the woman, but it emerged that he had been honest about his past with her.

There were concerns because she was a grandmother, and Harcourt was banned from unsupervised contact with children under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

He had no contact with the woman's adult children or her grandchildren, though he offered to help in buying a present for the grandchildren, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Harcourt admitted breaching the SHPO, which he was given in 2014 with an extended ten-year sentence for making and distributing child abuse images and encouraging other perverts to do the same.

Judge Sean Morris was told how Harcourt turned up at the police station with his female partner and they were "very open and honest" about the relationship with his offender manager.

Garry Wood, mitigating, said Harcourt had told the woman – "his then partner, now separated" - about his offending at the outset.

Judge Morris told Harcourt: "Sexual Harm Prevention Orders are there to be obeyed.

"You're not here for having a relationship with a female. You're here because you had deleted some Google searches from your phone.

"And you're not allowed to do that. It's as simple as that. And you need to know that carries a prison sentence."

Harcourt,of Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, was given a one-year prison sentence suspended for 18 months with 20 days' rehabilitation activity.