Published: Wednesday, 21st July, 2010 5:00pm

Sex offender jailed for four months

Convicted UK paedophile, William Paden arrives at Cavan Courthouse on Thursday morning where he was given a four-month custodial sentence after which he will be extradited back to Britain.
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A convicted sex offender who was subject of a search in England, Northern Ireland and the Republic has been sentenced to four months for an offence under the Sex Offenders Act.

William John Paden (56) of no fixed abode was arrested in Cavan on June 30 last and was charged with failing to notify Gardaí of his name, address and date of birth contrary to Section 12 of the Sex Offenders Act. He pleaded guilty to the charge at Cavan District Court last week.

The defendant had disappeared from his home in Blackpool, Lancashire, in June. He has 19 convictions dating back to 1974 including rape and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Inspector Seamus Boyle informed the court that gardaí received a report that a person was acting suspiciously in the Ballyhaise area. When they arrived, they located Mr. Paden and arrested him and took him to Cavan Garda Station. He admitted he had been in Ireland from June 8.

The defendant was wanted in a foreign jurisdiction and the UK authorities have prepared extradition papers for him. Inspector Boyle added that the defendant was obliged by law to notify the authorities of his change of address.

He hoped to execute the warrant next week as they did not physically have the warrant in their possession.

Garrett Fortune, solicitor defending, said his client had been living in England and was released on licence. He moved to Blackpool and when residents "discovered who he was and things got a bit hot". The defendant decided to visit his mother in Northern Ireland and then travelled south.

His client had been in custody since June 30 and was locked up for 23 hours a day. He had given no trouble since his arrest. If a sentence was imposed he would have to served it here before being extradited to England.

Judge David Anderson said he was reluctant to burden the Irish taxpayer with the costs of keeping Paden in prison. However, as the Gardaí do not have the extradition warrant in their possession, he said he reluctantly imposed a four-month prison sentence backdated to June 30.

He is due to be extradited back to Britain when he is finished serving his sentence here.

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