Paedophile is first to be held under new law

POLICE HAVE arrested a convicted paedophile who allegedly refused to stay away from young children in the first use of radical legislation to combat sex offenders.

Stephen Gloster, 41, was charged with breaching the new Sex Offender Order, under which he was banned from going near schools, approaching children under 16, or possessing a camera. Gloster, of Oldbury, West Midlands, was arrested after being seen with a young girl. Gloster appeared before Warley magistrates yesterday and was remanded in custody. He was convicted of indecent assault on children last year and given three years' probation.

Gloster is one of six men so far to be subjected to restrictions under the order and could face up to five years in jail for breaching them.