Lincolnshire pensioner who simulated sex with an orange balloon and filmed girls on buses is jailed

One of Britain's most persistent offenders is back behind bars after he admitted breaching a sexual prevention order which was put in place to control his previous behaviour.

David Hunter, 74, of Kettlethorpe Road, Fenton, near Lincoln, was arrested following an alleged incident that took place on a bus between Lincoln and Boston.

This was reported to Lincolnshire Police on 13 October last year.

Hunter was jailed for three years and nine months after he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court and admitted three charges of breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight also ordered two charges of sexual assault to remain on the file and made a deprivation order for a phone which was seized from Hunter.

The pensioner, who has served a number of previous jail sentences, remains subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and the Sex Offenders Register.

Hunter - who was prohibited from possessing orange balloons as part of a series of measures designed to control his bizarre behaviour - was jailed for three and half years in December 2017.

On that occasion hundreds of photos showing girls either holding or blowing up balloons were found by police after they searched two properties linked to Hunter in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

The searches were carried out after it was discovered Hunter had been in contact with an under-age girl who he had previously covertly filmed on a bus.

It was the 36th time Hunter had broken a series of court orders imposed to restrict his activities.

The court was told 200 photos of girls either holding or blowing up balloons were found when police searched his home near Gainsborough, Lincs.

Hundreds of similar images were found when police searched two sheds which Hunter had built himself on land sub-let to him on a farm in Aslockton, Notts.

Footage showing Hunter appearing to "simulate sex" with an orange balloon was also seized, the court heard.

There was also evidence Hunter had been swimming with a nine-year-old girl on the rapids at Butlins in Skegness and had used the false name of " David Harley" on invoices found at his home.

Hunter was also jailed for 40 months in 2015 for filming a girl on a bus - but he got in contact with the same child several months after being released from prison.

On that occasion Hunter sent a Facebook request to the girl accompanied with a black and white photo of a school boy and references to balloon websites.

There was further contact on Instagram and two messages sent by Hunter to the girl which said "you're gorgeous" and "love you to bits.,"

The court heard Hunter was first convicted of taking indecent or pseudo photos in 1994 and has been under a series of Sexual Offences Prevention Orders since 2001 designed to control his behaviour.

He was given a three year probation supervision order in November 2014 after he admitted visiting Butlins Water World in Skegness.

Two months earlier a memory card containing over 1,200 photographs of children was found when police searched premises where Hunter was staying.

Hunter was also jailed for 15 months in 2011 and ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years after he broke a court order banning him from possessing balloons in public.

On that occasion Hunter was arrested after police searched his car and found an orange coloured heart-shaped balloon on the front passenger seat. Officers also found photographs of young children holding balloons.