Convicted Hartlepool rapist jailed for 18 years back in Teesside Crown Court over unregistered laptop

Colin Taylor, 62, was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) with stringent conditions when he was jailed for rape in 2009.

It included telling police of all devices capable of accessing the internet.

But Teesside Crown Court heard that when police visited him in August at his mother’s address in Hartlepool, where he was staying, he was found with a laptop computer that had not been registered.

Taylor, who has since been recalled to prison to complete his 18-year rape sentence, admitted one breach of the SHPO.

Sarah Hopkinson said in mitigation it was down to a “misinterpretation” of the terms of the order.

She added: “There is no evidence Mr Taylor accessed the internet on the device.”

Taylor, of Sheriff Street, Hartlepool, was given four months imprisonment.