Worthing sex offender jailed after being found in van with underage girl

A registered sex offender has been jailed after police discovered him sleeping in a van with a 17-year-old girl in Worthing.

Brandon Slater, 19, who has an interim Sexual Risk Order, was wanted on a court warrant when officers from Sussex Police’s Specialist Enforcement Unit (SEU) located his Ford Transit van in Chesswood Road around 11.30pm on 5 September.

Despite repeated commands to exit the vehicle, he refused and attempted to flee when officers forced entry. He was swiftly detained with the help of Tasers and a police dog.

Slater, of no fixed address, was charged with two counts of breaching his Sexual Risk Order, which prohibits him from contacting any female under 18. He pleaded guilty at Worthing Magistrates’ Court on 14 October and was sentenced to six months in prison.

Sergeant Tom Mills from the SEU said the case showed how officers were trained to handle a range of incidents and confirmed that the 17-year-old girl, unaware of Slater’s restrictions, had received safeguarding advice.