Portadown man, accused of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, must wait another week in jail
A Portadown man, accused of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), must wait another week in prison after an officer investigating the matter failed to attend court.
Kevin Christy, aged 41, from Park Road, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Friday. The charge is that he breached the SOPO by staying at his home address on October 31 last year which was a residence not approved by his designated risk manager.
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Christy’s barrister, Mr Conor Lunny, said he had requested that the PSNI’s investigating officer on the case attend court to explain the delay in the matter.
A prosecutor said the officer had been asked to attend but there didn’t appear to be an update on the matter.
District Judge White said the case “isn’t exactly an old file”. Mr Lunny described it as a “very uncomplicated file, a very recent file”.
"The situation is that Mr Christy has been granted bail but can’t perfect it because of the very same issue which gives rise to the charge. The address at which he had been residing as been deemed unsuitable by the designated risk manager and that really substantiates the breach charge.”
The barrister said there may well be a suitable address in the offing but Christy has spent Christmas ‘inside’.
Mr Lunny said he has yet to see the papers, adding “one would have thought that it’s a very simple, straight forward set of papers to prepare”.
The district judge said he agreed with that. He said: “Nothing’s going to happen today. We’ll take it for a week.”
The case was adjourned until January 10.