A REGISTERED sex offender was sentenced to six weeks in prison for failing to notify the authorities of his whereabouts while in Weymouth.

David William Herbert, 49, formerly of the Waverley Arms in the town, admitted a charge of failing to comply with notification requirements at Weymouth Magistrates Court. Police found Herbert staying at the bed and breakfast in Abbotsbury Road rather than at his sister’s address in Newstead Road which he had given to authorities.

He had already served 20 days in custody since being found at the Waverley Arms by police officers in January, which the court heard would be taken into account.

Herbert immigrated to Spain after being jailed for four and a half months for taking two young women onto Horseshoe Common in Bournemouth at knifepoint in 2002.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Valera said: “The original offences were very serious.

“The defendant was taking young ladies in Bournemouth into a park in a balaclava at knifepoint.

“He served his sentence and when released he decided to leave the country and travel to Spain and then on to Bulgaria.

“The next thing we knew he had flown back into the UK in January 2009.

“He registered a temporary address in Newstead Road and then left the country again.

“This year he came back into Bournemouth airport and spoke to probation officers, showing them a return ticket to Spain.

“When police carried out an investigation on the address where he said he was staying they found he no longer resided there and he had moved to the Waverley Arms.

“This is an extremely serious matter – we knew Mr Herbert was in the country but we didn’t know where he was.”

In mitigation, Simon Brima-combe, said: “Until December 2009 my client was in the view that his sister was still living at Newstead Road in Weymouth.

“He notified immigration of the address where he believed he was staying.

“When he arrived in the UK he was on his way to that address when his sister told him she was staying at the Waverley Arms with a new partner.

“My client said that at the time he was feeling unwell.

“He was also bringing his girlfriend from Bulgaria to meet his family for the first time so that was on his mind.

“My client was also visited by his son who came to tell him he was off to Afghanistan.

“He tells me that it did cross his mind that he should be complying with the requirement but that went out of his mind as a result of being ill and all the other issues.”

When sentencing the chairman of the magistrates bench Judith Boichot described the offence as ‘serious’.