A sex offender who is subject to stringent conduct requirements was caught with pornography on his phone after making a drunken “nuisance” of himself at Tesco in Montrose.
Aaron Ryan must not possess devices capable of accessing the internet without permission as part of a seven-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) imposed in 2021.
However, he ended up in custody after police were called out to deal with him at the supermarket in Montrose in March 2024.
Ryan was jailed for other offences last year and three days after his release in February this year, he was caught with an illegal phone.
The 26-year-old is now at risk of a further prison term after pleading guilty to breaching the SHPO and a bail condition.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how officers were called out to Tesco because Ryan was “causing a nuisance” but not behaving criminally.
Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie said: “Police asked him for his details and asked him for access to his phone.
“An officer viewed the browsing history and on one of the pages, the browser showed a VPN (virtual private network) and pornographic material was visible.”
Ryan replied to his arrest: “I honestly didn’t understand my bail conditions.”
Conditions of the SHPO – imposed at Worcester Crown Court – also include not to use private or incognito browsing, report any new device to supervising officers or installing encrypted software.
Ryan, of Southesk Terrace in Brechin, pled guilty to the offences.
Solicitor Keith Sym revealed that Ryan had been released from custody on February 21 this year for other offences and was found with a phone capable of accessing the internet three days later at Montrose railway station.
This was a breach of a bail condition imposed at Forfar Sheriff Court on April 4 last year.
“This gentleman had a serious problem with alcohol,” Mr Sym said.
“He has little recollection of the events (in March 2024) but appears when police attended, he handed over the phone straight away and the information was found.
“He was suffering from depression, anxiety, was drinking heavily and making very bad decisions.”
Mr Sym said it was Ryan’s position that he did not know the phone from February this year had internet capabilities.
The lawyer said Ryan was in a settled, three-year relationship and is visited “weekly” by the offender management unit.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said: “There are safeguards in place just now so I will continue for background reports to be obtained.”
Ryan will be sentenced in April and was made subject to the sex offenders register on an interim basis.
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