Sex offender jailed after threat to BBC presenter

A sex offender who sent threatening messages to a BBC radio presenter has again been put behind bars.

Michael James, 57, breached a sexual harm prevention order by sending the message to BBC Radio Nottingham and deleting messages on his phone without permission.

Nottinghamshire Police said the paedophile was subject to the order after being convicted of sexual offences dating back to 1993 - including against children.

James, of Frobisher Gardens, in Daybrook, Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to "sending a communication threatening death or serious harm" and breaching a sexual harm prevention order, and was jailed for 40 weeks at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday.

Detectives said James was jailed for two and a half years in April 2021 for sending a probation officer a video of a sex act and committing an act outraging public decency at a bus stop in Nottingham.

Upon his release, he was made the subject of a prevention order with 11 strict conditions, with one banning him from deleting any electronic messages "without the express permission of a representative of the chief constable".

On 21 November last year, officers visited his address after it was reported he had sent a threatening and offensive message to BBC Radio Nottingham that had been racially aggravated and aimed at one of the station's presenters.

James was arrested and taken into custody, where checks found he had deleted a number of WhatsApp messages sent to the radio station from his device.

Sgt Elizabeth Williams, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "I am pleased James is back behind bars and he should be in no doubt about what will happen to him if he commits any further offences of this kind in the future."

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