A CONVICTED sex offender said to have breached his sexual harm prevention order will have a judge decide his case in the summer.

Bruce Wayne, 32, has already admitted breaching the court order by volunteering for community group Calne Central from January this year.

But Wayne, who was convicted of sexual activity with a child under-16 in Newcastle in 2011 and has since been sentenced for flouting court orders, denies claims by the prosecution that he volunteered in a cynical attempt to gain contact with vulnerable people.

The sexual harm prevention order was imposed by Weston-super-Mare magistrates in October 2020 after police raised concerns about his behaviour.

Andrew Stone, defending, told Swindon Crown Court last week that Wayne had got the permission of his police offender manager to attend the community centre as a “punter”.

“It became apparent to him that he was able to assist in a very informal capacity...and there are things around about the place that he would be able to help with. He never at any point viewed himself as one of their official volunteers,” Mr Stone said.

Judge Jason Taylor QC told the barrister that, from his reading of the case papers, he did not accept that Wayne’s actions were as innocent as was being made out.

He said: “[On the papers this is] predatory behaviour, particularly when you look into the backdrop and it seems to me that if he wants to say ‘I went there for genuinely innocent reasons, nothing sinister’ that is going to make a difference to sentence.”

The judge ordered further statements to be gathered and adjourned the case for a mention hearing on a date to be fixed.

The case is expected to go to a Newton Hearing, where a judge will hear evidence and decide the basis on which Wayne will be sentenced.

Wayne, of Watermint Way, Calne, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to breaching a sexual harm prevention order. He was originally convicted in 2011 under the name Andrew Jason Phillips and court registers suggest he uses the alias “James Bond” in addition to the “real” name of comic character Batman.

Mark Ashley appeared for the Crown Prosecution Service.