Galashiels 42-year-old admits breaching sexual offences prevention order twice

Peter Mulvey, of Galashiels, pleaded guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court to contacting two women via Facebook Messenger without informing social workers.

He also engaged in a conversation via Facebook without notifying social services staff of the identity of the person he was talking to.

Sheriff Peter Paterson said he was willing for now to allow a community payback order issued in June last year to continue but warned Mulvey if he continues to prove incapable of complying with its terms, he will end up in jail.

Mulvey was banned from accessing the internet without prior approval for three years after admitting engaging in indecent online communications with someone claiming to be a child.

He had pleaded guilty to that charge in April 2019 and was sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court two months later.

Besides not being allowed to go online without prior approval from a supervising social worker, he must disclose details of any devices he can access the internet on and must inform social workers of any friendships, associations or intimate or domestic relationships he forms.

He must also declare contact information for anyone he communicates with either directly or indirectly.

That sentence was handed out after Mulvey was caught in an online sting at Edinburgh’s Royal Commonwealth Pool staged by a group set up to name and shame alleged sex offenders in December 2018, then went on to send multiple messages to someone he thought was a young girl.