Police find on-the-run sex offender sleeping in van with teenage girl

A registered sex offender has been jailed after police found him sleeping in his van with an underage girl in Worthing. Officers from the Specialist Enforcement Unit (SEU) were searching for Brandon Slater, 19, who was wanted on a court warrant and subject to an interim Sexual Risk Order. At around 11.30pm on 5 September, […]

A registered sex offender has been jailed after police found him sleeping in his van with an underage girl in Worthing.

Officers from the Specialist Enforcement Unit (SEU) were searching for Brandon Slater, 19, who was wanted on a court warrant and subject to an interim Sexual Risk Order.

At around 11.30pm on 5 September, SEU officers located his Ford Transit van on Chesswood Road, Worthing.

Despite repeated calls to come out, Slater refused to respond. Officers began forcing entry to the van, prompting him to open the rear doors and flee on foot.

However, he didn’t get far — officers armed with Tasers and supported by a Police Dog detained him within seconds.

Slater, of no fixed address, was arrested and charged with two counts of breaching a Sexual Risk Order, which bans him from contacting any female under 18.

He pleaded guilty to both offences at Worthing Magistrates’ Court on 14 October and was sentenced to six months in prison.

Sergeant Tom Mills, from the SEU, said:

“This case demonstrates that our officers are multi-skilled to respond to a variety of incidents and in this instance, they helped to remove a registered sex offender from the streets.

He was found to be in the company of a 17-year-old girl – who was not aware of his interim order – and she was given the appropriate safeguarding advice.”