A wedding photographer swapped messages with a 16-year-old boy – in breach of a magistrates’ court order banning him from having contact with children.

Peter Albanese, who was given a suspended sentence last October for breaching the same order, was again spared jail yesterday after Judge Jason Taylor QC heard the latest offence was committed before his court hearing last year and the 43-year-old was doing everything asked of him by the probation service.

Sentencing Albanese to four months’ imprisonment suspended for a little under a year, Judge Taylor said: “You came before me in October last year, where you received a 20 month suspended sentence order. It is important to note and important for anyone listening to recognise that you are not in breach of that suspended sentence order. This offence pre-dates that date when it was imposed.

“It’s right to say that had I been aware of this other matter and been sentencing for both breaches together last year then the additional offence would have been unlikely to have had a material bearing on sentence, given I was seeking to maximise the chances of rehabilitation.”

Prosecutor David Maunder had earlier told Swindon Crown Court that Wiltshire Police applied to the magistrates’ court in May 2019 for a sexual risk order designed to limit Albanese’s contact with children.

It followed concerns that the Swindon man had been associating with teenagers and plying them with alcohol. Mr Maunder said: “The concerns surrounding this particular defendant had been apparent over a number of years and was thought to amount to grooming type behaviour towards young children and their families.”

In August, police visited his flat in the David Murray John Tower after a tip off that Albanese had been talking to a different boy.

It wasn’t until after he was sentenced in October that analysis of his iPhone showed he had been messaging another 16-year-old boy in the days leading up to his arrest on August 12.

One message from Albanese to the boy, who had been reported to police as missing at the time, read: “I’m home today if you need me.”

Interviewed by police earlier this year about this second breach, the defendant initially said he didn’t know about the messages then, when officers read them out, said he had either ignored messages from the boy or said he wasn’t in his flat.

Emma Handslip, defending, said there had been some confusion previously over whether the phone – which was registered to the boy’s mother, a friend of Albanese’s – was in the possession of the youngster or his mother at the time.

The defendant had been doing well on his earlier suspended sentence order, even asking probation for more support. Despite struggling to secure work or voluntary placements, he had paid a £1,000 fine imposed last year.

“He’s been given an opportunity by you and he’s taken it and he’s gone beyond it,” Ms Handslip said.

Albanese, of David Murray John Tower, Swindon, admitted breaching a sexual risk order. He had no previous convictions for sexual offending.

Judge Taylor acknowledged Albanese’s progress on the earlier order. “You’ve complied with the current order even in lockdown and even asked for additional support. That is to your credit and society should be encouraged by that.”

As part of his new suspended sentence, Albanese must complete 125 hours of unpaid work and must wear a GPS tag for four months.

Judge Taylor said: “When you were last before me I recall saying to you it was a close-run thing, it was a warning shot and it was a final chance; and all those observations still apply.”