A DUNBAR sex offender has been jailed after admitting breaching the conditions of the sex offenders’ register.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that this was the second time James Smith had breached the strict rules after he had been placed on the register previously.

The court was told that police officers received information on December 11 last year that Smith “had access to a number of financial accounts” without having prior approval.

A search warrant was issued and officers raided Smith’s Pine Street home on January 26.

A number of credit cards and bank cards in the name of Smith were discovered in various rooms within the property.

Fiscal depute Alan Wickham told the court that the police discovered six bank and credit cards belonging to Smith.

Solicitor Graeme Runcie said that following his arrest, his client had been recalled to prison to serve out the remainder of a previous custodial sentence and had subsequently been released in June.

Mr Runcie said that there was “no nefarious use of the cards” found at his home and that they were used to help in the financial affairs of a takeaway business that he and his partner ran in Edinburgh.

The lawyer told the court last Friday that, despite this being the second time Smith had breached the order, he believed “a custodial sentence is not appropriate for this offence”.

In sentencing, Sheriff Nigel Ross said: “I have listened carefully to what Mr Runcie has had to say and the mitigating factors are that these were cards for financial resources.

“I also hear you were recalled and spent five months in custody.

“On the other hand, this is not your first conviction and you were well aware of the requirements.

“The fact is you were well aware of the requirements of the order and you deliberately infringed them in several ways.”

The sheriff said a custodial sentence in this case was “inevitable” and jailed Smith for six months.

Smith pleaded guilty to failing to notify police he held a number of bank and credit cards in his name, which was a breach of the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act, at his home at Pine Street, Dunbar, between November 1, 2018, and January 26 this year.