A convicted paedophile secured a part-time job working as an activity instructor with young people despite being on the sex offenders' register, it has emerged.

Ian Leckey, of Broadwater Down in Tunbridge Wells, had already been jailed for three years in 1999 for sex offences against boys, but he went on to offend again.

This week he was jailed for another two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to three charges of sexual activity with a child and guilty to a charge of meeting a child after sexual grooming.

During the trial, it emerged that one of the places where Leckey had managed to get part-time work was a west Kent school.

The headmaster there said Leckey had not been employed directly by the school but when a regular instructor who for several years had run a weekly one-hour activity at the school had been unable to take the class during the summer he had sent Leckey as a substitute.

The school had carried out checks on the principal instructor, but did not do so on Leckey.

The head said: “Leckey came in for a number of sessions over the bulk of the term. We accept we should have carried out our checks as well. We very much regret, due to an oversight, we did not do so. We were open about this with all agencies involved from the very earliest stages of the investigation.”

He added that in June, the school was approached by “a member of the wider community” who had concerns regarding Leckey’s conduct with young people outside of school on activities not directly related to school.

As soon as the concerns were raised, the police were notified and the school advised West Kent Children’s Safeguarding Unit.

Jailing Leckey, Judge Phillip Statman described him as predatory and manipulative and banned him from ever working with children again.