A PERVERT former youth football coach who was jailed after being caught in an vigilante paedophile sting has been sent to prison again - after he was caught trying to log on to Grindr.

Craig Raeburn was originally jailed for 14 months when he was caught with more than 1,000 indecent images of children on his computer in January 2017.

And just weeks after his release from prison last year, he was caught attempting to make sexual contact with someone he thought was a young boy when he was set up by the Wolf Pack Hunters UK online group.

The former NHS manager was subsequently jailed for 20 months, handed a Sexual Offenders Prevention Order (SOPO) and placed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Now Raeburn is facing a third lengthy spell behind bars after he pleaded guilty today (Tuesday) to breaching the SOPO when he was a caught by police officers attempting to search for men on the gay social media app Grindr.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told under the terms of the SOPO that Raeburn had to inform police of any internet-capable devices he owned and had to allow officers to access the search history at any time.

The court heard that police officers spotted Raeburn, 54, as he sat with an unauthorised electronic tablet in a bus stop late at night in Haddington.

Fiscal depute Lorna Ferrier said: “On March 1 at around 11.10pm, police officers saw the accused sitting at a bus stop outside Boots the chemist in Haddington.

“They spoke to him and he seemed agitated. He had a mobile phone and a tablet and was hastily attempting to switch the tablet off.

“Officers took possession of the device and saw there was an error message [displayed on the screen].

“He had been attempting to connect to a Grindr application and there was an active WiFi connection.

“The accused said he was aware of the conditions of the SOPO and the tablet was seized.”

Defending solicitor Paul Haran said that Raeburn, originally from Port Seton, had bought the tablet three days previously after his ex-wife had told him there were comments on social media about him.

Mr Haran said that had been “the specific reason he bought it” as there had been “detailed descriptions” of his appearance and where he lived posted on various social media sites.

Mr Haran said: “He was concerned about that and raised his concerns with the social work department.

“He was advised by them not to worry about it. He simply wished to know what was being said.

“There was no evidence of anything untoward on the device.”

Sheriff Michael O’Grady QC questioned Raeburn’s explanation for having the electronic tablet and deferred sentence to next week for him to prove he bought it because of concerns about his personal safety.

Raeburn was remanded in custody.

Raeburn pleaded guilty to breaching his SOPO by possessing an internet capable device that had not been registered by the Offender Management Unit at High Street, Haddington, on March 1.

Raeburn was sacked from his position as a practitioner services manager with the NHS following the conviction for possessing 1,400 indecent images of children in January 2017.

At the time of his first offence, Raeburn was involved in coaching young boys at local youth side Cockenzie Star. He no longer has any involvement with the boys’ football club.