A RAPIST who was ordered by a court to notify police if he changed address following his release from prison has been jailed for 17 months after admitting his SIXTH breach of the order.

Robert Thurston was jailed for nine years in 1992.

He was ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

However, Robert Sadd, prosecuting, said that since then Thurston had breached the order by failing to notify police when he changed address in March 1999, April 2001, October 2006, February 2010 and in August 2011 when he was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

He said Thurston breached the suspended sentence by failing to notify police of a change of address in August this year.

Thurston, 48, of Kemsley Road, Felixstowe, admitted failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register and breach of a suspended sentence.

Jailing him for 17 months less 48 days he has spent in custody, Judge David Goodin said the main purpose of the notification requirements was the protection of the public and it was important that the courts took breaches seriously to maintain public confidence in the system.

Mr Sadd told the court that Thurston had an intinerant lifestyle and over the years had regularly declined to “follow the rules” and notify the police where he was living.

He said the latest breach had occurred in August when Thurston told officers he knew he was obliged to notify the police of any change of address but “he wasn’t into all that”.

Richard Kelly for Thurston said his client had no fixed address and the notification requirements were particularly onerous for him because of his lifestyle.

He said that Thurston and his wife moved between caravan sites, B&Bs, hotels and other temporary accommodation.