by Thom Morris

tmorris@thekmgroup.co.uk

A vile paedophile who hid in Ashford for three months to evade Canadian police has been jailed for 30 months.

Canadian computer expert John Cox, 35, failed to appear for a court trial in the country back in February.

Instead, he fled to the UK, renting a room in Cudworth Road, Willesborough, before being arrested and extradited in May.

He was shopped to the police by his then landlady Kate Simmonds.

The pervert had pleaded guilty in September to three counts of sexual touching, one count of invitation to sexual touching, computer luring, possession of child pornography and failing to appear.

The Victoria court judge Adrian Brooks dished out concurrent sentences of 12 months on each count of sexual touching and computer luring, a three-month concurrent sentence for possessing child pornography and a three-month consecutive sentence for failing to turn up to court.

He said: "These are very young females whose victim impact statements speak eloquently about expecting different behaviour from an adult.

"Their statements emphasise the nature of the breach of trust, which could only be described as vile."

Crown prosecutor Tim Stokes and defence lawyer John Gustafson made a joint-submission asking the court to credit Cox with 15 months time served for his seven and a half months in custody since his extradition.

They asked that Cox spend another 15 months in prison.

A psychiatric report concluded that there was a high risk of Cox reoffending when in a position of trust around children.

He was traced to Ashford, despite using encryption as well as the aliases Sean Pulsen and Jean Guillaume to disguise his online identity, by officers from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre.

His landlord, Kate Simmonds, also contacted the police with concerns over his behaviour towards a friend's children.

She said: "I think that's a good result but I'd like to know whether that's long enough for him to get some rehabilitation.

"It seems fair but is it enough for a man who has done the things that he did?"

Cox will also face three years probation when he is released from jail and must supply his DNA.

There will also be restrictions preventing him reoffending against children.