A child sex offender who lied to police about where he was living just days after being spared jail for doing the same thing is back behind bars.

Michael Smith, who also uses the surname King, got a suspended sentence in March for breaching the terms of the sex offender registration.

As a part of the order he has 72 hours to tell police of a change of address, and three days after his court appearance he told officers he was living with his stepdad.

But when they went to check in late June they were told that he hadn't been seen the 27-year-old since the day he appeared in court.

Now Smith, who has now breached the terms of the order eight times as well as breaking a restraining order for harassing an ex, has been jailed for 25 months.

The father-of-two was first spared jail after he admitted grooming and abusing a 13-year-old girl he had been contacting over Facebook in 2014.

As soon as he was put on a suspended sentence he lied about where he was living and even moved in with a woman who had children, which he was banned from doing.

A year later he moved in with woman who had two children, again in breach of a sexual offences prevention order, telling her he had been in jail for driving matters.

Simon Goodman, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that after appearing in court in March he went to police to say he was living on Penhill Drive.

But when his offender manager made a home visit on June 27 she spoke to his stepdad who said he hadn't seen him since the day he was in court.

Knowing he had a probation appointment the next day she went there and arrested him.

When he was questioned he insisted he had been living there and there had been problems with his stepdad's new partner and denied doing anything wrong.

Smith, of no fixed abode, pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with the notification requirements as a sex offender and the matter was listed for trial in November.

But when the case was brought back before a judge he changed his plea to admit what he had done.

Suzanne Payne, defending, said he had failed to take the help from probation because he was embarrassed about his position and too proud.

She said that he had been housed in hostels in the past but they were full of sex offenders and he didn't like taking his daughter there.

Despite his background Ms Payen said social service still let him see his children and, when he was working, she said he made payments to help support them.

She said that despite his failing to comply with the sex offender register he had been working with probation, illustrated by him being arrested there.

Jailing him, Judge Tim Mousley QC said: "You have breached court orders, as you know, repeatedly and sometimes very soon after the order has been imposed.

"It seems to me that you are still someone who isn't prepared to deal properly with court orders.

"It seems to me that you don't just get the message that court orders have to be complied with."