A MAN who was spared prison for sending sexually explicit images to a 'child' has been locked up after being caught in the act again.

Alex Blade Buckland received a three-year community order in 2018 after he was caught engaging in sexual communication with an adult from a vigilante group who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.

This sentence included a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

Bournemouth Crown Court was told that in April last year officers discovered Buckland was breaching this order by using two accounts on social platform Kik to engage in sexual messaging with 'children'.

Prosecutor Judith Constable said in one conversation with a girl, who was fictional, the defendant sent a picture of an erect penis.

"The texts in both (accounts) were sexually explicit on the part of Mr Buckland," said Ms Constable.

In police interview, the 29-year-old defendant said somebody else must have got his name and photographs and sent the messages online.

The accounts had been active for around 18 months at the time of his arrest.

Ms Constable said Buckland, who had been living in a tent for two years, had 17 previous convictions for 21 offences.

During the prosecutor's opening of the case, the defendant said: "I am not a bad person like you are making me out to be."

Buckland, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to offences of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child at an earlier hearing.

Mitigating, Tom Evans said his client's remand in custody "was the best thing that could happen to him".

"There has been a failure to move from childhood to adolescence and he has not really moved beyond that stage," said the barrister.

He added: "There is no alternative to custody offered. The courts hands are tied."

A month before the offending started, he had his belongings robbed from his tent, Mr Evans told the court.

"He was isolated, alone, living in a tent and then he was subjected to violence and then he resorted to this learned behaviour," said Mr Evans.

"It is really quite a sad case in my submission."

In sentencing Buckland to a 14-month prison term, Judge Keith Cutler said: "You know why you are here. You left court last time and you knew exactly what you should and shouldn't do.

"It is sad to see you back here."

The judge said no children were actually contacted at all in Buckland's latest offending.

Alongside the custodial term, Buckland was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.