by Annette Wilson

A sex offender is behind bars for 14 months for what a judge called 'just about the most flagrant breach of the law'.

Frederick Stephens, 55, was on the sex offenders register for life after two convictions relating to indecent images of children.

Under the terms of the register Stephens, of the Palace Hotel, Buenos Ayres, Margate was obliged to notify the police of any holiday arrangements.

But he failed to tell officers about a planned trip to the Philippines, claiming he was just visiting Turkey.

Out in the Philippines was Stephens' former co-accused Robert Baird who had settled out there and invited Stephens to come out and 'test the lie of the land', said prosecutor Denzil Pugh at Canterbury Crown Court.

Because of the much younger age of consent and reputation of the islands, Stephens would not have been allowed to visit the Philippines had he been honest with the police, said Mr Pugh.

In February 2001 Stephens had appeared at Kingston Crown Court for conspiracy to distribute indecent images and in November 2003 he was jailed for again possessing indecent images and failing to notify the police of a change of circumstances.

At the first hearing he was put on the sex offenders register for 10 years but at the Croydon sentencing he was put on for life, where he still remains.

He'd moved from Ealing to Margate and gave local police his details and said he was going to Turkey. He was away about three months and when he returned, officers looked at his passport and saw the Philippines stamps. Stephens claimed he didn't realise he had to give details of other destinations.

In interview he said he felt he was looking at no life in this country and he'd gone to the Philippines to see if he could start a new life. He had known this was his ulterior intention and said he'd met a young woman of 18, now 19, and struck up a relationship.

Peter Forbes, for Stephens, said Stephens knew the police wouldn't let him visit the Philippines but it was a deception which would have been discovered. He didn't flee the country but returned. "It was unfortunate the person he went to see was a former co-defendant and he considered whether he could make his own life out there

"Because of his convictions, life in this country has not been easy and he was shot in 2006," said Mr Forbes.

Jailing Stephens, Judge Timothy Nash said: "This is just about the most flagrant breach of the law under the sexual offenders provisions I have come across.

"You quite deliberately deceived the authorities in order to pursue your selfish thoughts as to your future way of life in the Philippines.

"The Sex Offenders Register is there to protect you as much as young people and if you don't obey it, you can expect quite significant punishment."