WAYNE GILBANK FROM MIDDLESBROUGH AND THIRSK SENT BACK TO JAIL FOR BREACHING SEX OFFENDER CONDITIONS

In a serious development, Wayne Gilbank, a known sex offender with ties to Middlesbrough and Thirsk, has been remanded back into custody following a breach of his legal restrictions. The incident occurred on October 25 of this year when police officers visited his residence near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, for a routine risk assessment. During the visit, they discovered a 15-year-old boy asleep on Gilbank's sofa, an alarming violation of the strict conditions imposed on him.

Gilbank, aged 26 at the time, was originally sentenced to two years in prison in November 2005 after being convicted of multiple sex offenses involving young girls. He was released from incarceration in October of the previous year, having been placed on the sex offenders' register for a decade and subjected to an indefinite ban on having unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16. Despite these restrictions, the police found him in breach of the Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) that was put in place to prevent him from having unsupervised contact with minors.

Following his arrest, Gilbank appeared before Teesside Crown Court, where Judge Peter Fox, QC, sentenced him to four months in prison for the breach. The judge emphasized the importance of obeying court orders, stating, “I give you credit for your admission of the offence, but there is every reason for it to be made plain that courts’ orders are to be obeyed. It must be realized that a breach almost invariably results in a term of immediate imprisonment, and this is not an exceptional case.”

During the hearing, James Fenny, representing Gilbank, explained that once Gilbank realized the boy was 15, he asked him to leave the premises. Fenny clarified that there was no evidence suggesting any sexual misconduct had taken place. He added that Gilbank was staying with his uncle in Kings Gardens, Sowerby, and the teenager was a family friend who had been locked out of his own home the night before. Fenny further stated, “By his own account, he had not arranged to meet this boy. It was simply something that occurred at his address.”

Fenny also mentioned that Gilbank instructed the teenager to find alternative accommodation for the night once he discovered his age, but the boy was unable to do so. It is worth noting that Gilbank has a prior criminal record; he was jailed at Hull Crown Court two years ago after admitting to three counts of inciting a child to commit acts of gross indecency and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual acts. His repeated offenses highlight the ongoing concerns surrounding his conduct and the importance of strict enforcement of the restrictions placed upon him.