A PREDATOR has been hauled back to court for offences relating to his obligation to sign the sex offender register.

Harjit Singh was ordered to abide by sex offender registration and notification requirements after being jailed for more than six years back in October 2016.

The attempted rapist who also sexually assaulted other victims, now aged 53 and of Runcorn, appeared before Warrington Magistrates’ Court recently to be sentenced.

This came after he admitted at an earlier hearing to failing to comply with his notification requirements.

Details of the failure to comply were outlined to the court by Michael O’Kane, representing the prosecution, who said that the offence was committed in Runcorn in August last year.

The defendant failed without reasonable excuse to complete his annual registration.

This was mandatory after he was convicted in September 2016 of a sole count of attempted rape and two charges each of sexual assault and failure to surrender to bail.

In July 2016, Singh followed a woman with Down’s Syndrome to her home in Hounslow, London, before attempting to rape her.

After a day out, she boarded a bus in Hounslow, on which the defendant was also a passenger.

When the victim got off the bus, Singh followed her into a block of flats, and while she took the lift, he took the stairs and ambushed her as she opened her front door.

Singh forcefully pushed her inside, forced her into a bedroom and attempted to rape her.

Unable to carry out the attack, he fell asleep, which gave the victim a chance to escape and alert her neighbours to what had happened.

The police were called and Singh was arrested at the scene and charged two days later.

In October 2016, he was sentenced to six years behind bars, on top of a three-month prison sentence in relation to two counts of sexual assault on two women following an incident in April 2015 at Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London.

Singh had previously pleaded guilty to these offences but failed to appear for sentencing.

For his sex offender register offence, magistrates referenced that this is a serious offence that can only appropriately receive a custodial sentence.

They highlighted that he demonstrated a ‘wilful neglect’.

However, they took his guilty plea into account and concluded that because he was deemed to be a ‘real prospect for rehabilitation’, they could suspend the sentence.

Singh, of Allen Road in Runcorn, was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £154, with his sex offender register requirements continuing.

Speaking after he was jailed for the attempted rape, DC David Fall, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “I am pleased with the sentence that has been handed down, and even more satisfied that Singh will no longer be on the streets of London, where he clearly poses a risk to the public.

“Singh is a predator who targeted a lone and vulnerable woman in broad daylight, and he displayed a sense of arrogance as he carried out his attack without fear of being caught.

“The victim has been supported throughout the investigation by specialist officers and she has shown an immense level of bravery.

“I would like to place on record the courage she has shown throughout the investigation.”