A sex offender has appeared in court days before Christmas - dressed as an elf.

Janiel Verainer was allowed to sit next to a helper in the public gallery rather than in the dock at Maidstone Crown Court.

The 60-year-old was dressed in a red and green seasonal outfit, together with a woollen cardigan with a Santa Claus badge, and a red and green elf-like cap.

As Verainer - who was addressed as she throughout the 15-minute hearing - walked into court, together with a helper, bells jangled from the costume.

Thumb-sucking Verainer, of High Street, Chatham, admitting a breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Judge Philip St-John Stevens heard that between December 18, 2019, and January 31 this year Verainer approached two children.

He was told that the incidents - which involved kissing the girls on the lips - was in breach of an order imposed at Canterbury Crown Court in November 2016 - which meant Verainer had to stay away from children.

Details of the breaches were not outlined in detail before the judge adjourned sentence until February 25 next year for a probation report to be prepared. A psychiatric report has already been done.

Three other charges of failing to comply with the SHPO will remain on file.

At an earlier hearing - appearing in pigtails and sucking a dummy - Verainer had denied the charges.

In November 2016 Verainer was given a ticking off from a judge - after sitting in the dock during a case hugging a large doll.

Judge Adele Williams told defence barrister Paul Hogben: “That is totally inappropriate and I make it plain she will not be doing that for the rest of the hearing.”

On that occasion Verainer, asking to be called Jorven Seren and claiming to identify as a five-year-old girl, was jailed for 15 months for kissing a girl outside a cafe in Thanet.

Then living in Grotto Hill, Margate, indecent images were also found on Verainer's phone.

At the time psychiatrists concluded the defendant had personality problems but no mental health issues.