A SEX offender has been jailed for sending threatening emails to a teenager and a letter to her family after having illegal intercourse with the girl when she was just 14.

Freddie Pritchard, 27, was ordered to serve 22 weeks behind bars after admitting causing fear and alarm to the girl, then aged between 15 and 17, between May 25, 2021 and January 25 this year.  

He admitted continuing contact with her by repeatedly sending her emails of a threatening or abusive manner from his home address in the Stair area. 

He also sent a letter addressed to the girl and her family.

The offence was aggravated because it involved abuse of a partner or former partner – while at the time it was committed, he was the subject of four separate bail orders issued at Ayr Sheriff Court.  

Pritchard had been ordered not to delete his search history from any device as part of a punishment for engaging in sexual activity with the girl in Ayrshire on various occasions between June 4 and July 16, 2020.  

Pritchard had admitted kissing the girl, removing her clothing and having sex with her while she was too young to consent.

But he later contacted the same girl by email on various occasions on July 26, 2020, in defiance of the bail order issued earlier that month.

Pritchard later admitted restoring the factory settings on his mobile phone and deleting all of his internet history on May 12, 2021.  

Pritchard was warned the prison door is "very much ajar” when he appeared in court last time on. 

When Pritchard returned to court this week [Monday, June 5], defence solicitor John Gallagher said: "I have to say from my own dealings, [the social worker] has been given the unenviable task of supervising the order.

"Mr Pritchard remains subject to MAPPA supervision and the sex offender policing unit.

"A period of unpaid work could be imposed. My final submission would be a compensation requirement: it's not lost on me or Mr Pritchard that his behaviour caused considerable concern.

Mr Gallagher also highlighted comments made by a social worker in a background report suggesting Pritchard was "quite unique in his degree of manipulation".

Mr Gallagher added: "We don't believe everything he tells us."  

Sheriff Mhairi MacTaggart said she had "very significant concerns" and told Pritchard: “I have to deal with cases in front of me - the very serious original indictment and the community payback order [CPO] you breached.

"The young woman was sent some of the worst messages I have seen, it must have been extremely distressing. There was a degree of forethought and a degree of planning.

"I, and others in the courts, strive not to send people into custody. You manipulated and breached that order and I'm being asked again to give you another chance."

Sheriff MacTaggart opted not to give Pritchard that chance, revoking his CPO and sending him to prison.

On the other charge the sheriff deferred sentence to a later date, telling Pritchard the prospect of another prison term would "hang over his head".

A non-harassment order was imposed barring Pritchard from having any contact with the girl until 2028.