A “DYED in the wool” paedophile has been jailed for his online activities – again.

Derek Lawrence Christopher Gunnee, 74, hid his Dell computer from police and wiped its internet history every day that he used it, York Crown Court heard.

He has been subject to police monitoring and other checks on his behaviour under a lifelong sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) since he was convicted of and jailed for viewing and distributing indecent images of children in 2014 and 2015.

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, said when someone deliberately deleted their internet history, there was the possibility “there is something very bad to hide.”

Victoria Hajba-Ward, prosecuting, said Gunnee had wiped more than 16 GB of data downloaded on his computer but the prosecution could not say what he had been using it for.

After reading what Gunnee had told a probation officer preparing a pre-sentence report on him, the barrister said: “The whole picture is very concerning to the Crown.”

The judge told Gunnee: “You are a dyed in the wool paedophile and that will never change.”

He jailed him for 20 months.

Gunnee, of Kingsway North, Clifton, pleaded guilty to four breaches of the SHPO – by not telling police he had a computer, by using it to access the internet without police knowledge, by wiping his internet history and by having wiping software on the computer.

For him, Steve Munro said he had bought the computer with the wiping software already installed during the lockdown.

He had needed one to do his banking and go on Zoom and the police had taken his other computer.

Gunnee had deleted his internet history every day to prevent his banking details being hacked, said the solicitor advocate.

He had health problems including COPD, mobility issues and diabetes and family responsibilities.

Ms Hajba-Ward said Gunnee’s SHPO only allowed him to have one device capable of contacting the internet at a time and prevented him contacting or staying in the same house as girls under 16.

Police visited him on June 10 as part of their monitoring of him and he showed them his phone which he said he used to access the internet.

He made no mention of the Dell computer.

On July 6 they visited him again and when they examined his phone, they realised it used a Google email that was also linked to another device.

When they asked him about that, he said: “That might be the computer upstairs” and showed them the Dell computer in his bedroom.

Police computer experts inspected it and discovered it had used more than 16 GB of data, but its internet history was empty.