A CHILD rapist breached his Sexual Offences Prevention Order by being in the company of a three-year-old boy, Jedburgh Sheriff Court has been told.

Thomas Hoare from Hawick also possessed a passport, travelled to the Republic of Ireland and Spain without telling his supervising officer and breached his bail conditions by failing to report to a police station.

The 51-year-old received a jail sentence totalling 350 days at Jedburgh Sheriff Court - back-dated to November 11 when he was first remanded in custody.

Hoare - who had been living in Princes Street, Hawick - tried to deny he was on the Sex Offenders Register.

He claimed when he was sentenced to six years in prison in 2000 for raping a 10-year-old schoolgirl, a 'deal' was struck with prosecutors that he would not be subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act to allow him to get on with his life on his release.

But at a proof hearing at Jedburgh, procurator fiscal Graham Fraser produced documentary evidence which stated Hoare - who used the name Thomas Todd at the time - was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life after his rape conviction.

He said Hoare had 'persuaded himself' over the past 18 years that he was not on the Register and was in denial.

Sheriff Peter Paterson told Hoare that the notification requirements would be 'mandatory' for an offence of rape and dismissed his claim.

Following the sheriff's ruling, Hoare pleaded guilty to four breaches of his Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

On January 3, 2017, he was observed by police in the company of a woman - who was friendly with his then partner - and her three-year-old child despite the Order stating he was to have no contact with children under 16.

Officers watched as Hoare pushed the child's pedal cycle and then they both went into a newsagent's shop while the mother waited outside.

After he was arrested it emerged Hoare also played Scaletrix with the boy.

Hoare also pleaded guilty to possessing a passport without the knowledge of his supervising officer between May and September, 2017, and travelling to the Republic of Ireland and Spain without permission as well as failing to report to Hawick Police Station in June 2017 when he was required to do so.

Defence lawyer Richard Souter said: "He is no longer in a relationship with the woman.

"He has an address in Hawick though he is looking to move south of the border."

Under the name of Thomas Todd, Hoare was jailed for a total of 10 years at Newcastle Crown Court in September 2000.

He was said to have been so revolted by his sex attack on the schoolgirl that he confessed to a 13-year-old unsolved armed robbery to make sure he got a longer sentence.

Hoare raped the 10-year-old girl on New Year's Day, 2000, at a house in South Shields, near Newcastle, after overpowering her on a bed and then fleeing in his car.

He was caught six hours later when police saw him asleep in the back seat at a motorway service station and thought he was a drink driver.

Hoare claimed he could not remember anything but the forensic evidence was overwhelming.

The court was told that Hoare was so disgusted with himself that he confessed to a £2,500 knife-point robbery at a North Yorkshire restaurant in 1987.

Defence lawyer Beatrice Bolton told the court at the time: "He did that because he was positively revolted by what he had done to that girl.

"He sought to ensure he was locked up for as long as possible.

"That is powerful mitigation and what better way for a man to demonstrate his remorse. He is disgusted by the offence."

Hoare was given a six year sentence for rape and another four years to run consecutively after admitting the robbery.