A TWICE convicted paedophile has avoided jail because of policing problems and treatment delays.

Convicted sex offender Jack Vickers admitted to police officers he was still looking at depraved sexual images of children but little was done for more than a year, a failing which yesterday helped him stay out of prison for a second time.

Vickers, 29, of Wivenhoe Road, Colchester, was convicted in September 2014 of making thousands of indecent images of children.

He was caught with around 3,500 of the highest level A images and received a suspended sentence, was put on the sex offenders' register for ten years and was subject to sex offenders' protection order.

When police went to check on him, as part of the order on June 18, 2015, he admitted he had been looking at images again and five level C images were found on his computer.

By this point a year long rehabilitation course, which was ordered by the court and designed to protect children and stop offending, had still not begun and didn't start until that October, 13 months after he was originally sentenced.

He was arrested and bailed.

In September 2016 Vickers, who had not moved, did not report his address to police which he was required to do as a registered sex offender.

It was suggested, at Chelmsford Crown Court, this was when officers noticed the outstanding offence of making images from their visit 15 months previously.

Vickers was sentenced yesterday after he admitted making the images he was caught with in June 2015, admitted failing to comply with the notification requirements and breaching the suspended sentence.

Michael Crimp, prosecuting, said: "Inexplicably it was not until after September 2016 he was brought to court for the latest indecent images offence.

"When police attended in September 2016 he was already subject to police bail for the images.

"It appears the problem may have been because of a change of an officer."

Mr Crimp also accepted the delay in getting him on a course, until October 2015, meant he had not started it when he started looking at the images again.

Mark Brown, mitigating, said: "This offence came about at a time he was waiting. It is not an excuse but it offers some explanation."

Recorder Gerard Pounder said: "The downloading of images goes back to June 2015, well in excess of one-and-a-half years ago.

"I am not sure we have got a proper explanation why it took so long for this to be brought to court.

"The mitigation here today would not have been here in 2015.

"It would likely to have been dealt with by imposition of the suspended sentence.

"The rehabilitative part of this order did not start until October 2015.

"You had not had the benefit of that targeted and highly focused course."

Vickers was fined £500 for breaching the suspended sentence and given a 24 month community order with 30 days of rehabilitation activity for making the images in June 2015 and failing to report his address in September 2016.