A SEX offender defied a court order aimed at protecting children by giving an ice lolly and a drink to a young girl, York Crown Court heard.

Richard Mason, 43, formerly of Norton, was jailed in 2009 for four years for three sex offences against two young girls and placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

At the same time, he was made subject to a sexual offences prevention order which barred him for ten years from unsupervised contact with anyone under 16 years of age.

York Crown Court heard Mason had been released on parole partway through that sentence and set up home in York.

Judge Shaun Spencer QC told how Mason told a girl playing outside a block of flats: “I have got an ice lolly for you” and “I have got a can of pop for you.”

But he was forbidden from having any contact with a child, particularly of the kind that could lead to sexual grooming.

Mason, of Walmgate, York, pleaded guilty to two breaches of the order and was jailed for eight months. The Ministry of Justice has already recalled him to prison to serve the rest of his four-year sentence.

Alan Mitcheson, prosecuting, said the mother of the children was keeping an eye on them and heard Mason’s comments. She was concerned about what he was doing and reported it.

Mason told police he had been to the shops. The children wanted to know what he had bought and he felt guilty about not giving them anything, as he was a “generous” person.

At court he accepted the children had not asked for the sweets or drink.

The prosecution accepted there was no suggestion that Mason had committed any sexual offence with the girl.

For Mason, Laura Addy said it was a momentary contact.

He knew he had “issues” that needed addressing and was prepared to work with the probation service and the police and to report situations which he felt put him in a position where he could reoffend.