A RAPIST who flouted the Sex Offenders Register by not telling police where he was living has kept his freedom.

Alan Street, 25, who was on the register for life after being convicted of rape, had twice breached the requirements before and had already been jailed for a month, a court was told.

The court was told Street had told officers he was living at his father's address but when they asked to see his bedroom, it didn't look lived in and there were no sheets on the bed.

Street, who had been living at an address a judge ordered should not be disclosed, admitted failing to notify a change of address, last November.

The defendant, of Stanley Street, Acc-rington, was given a 26 week jail term, sus-pended for two years, with two years supervision by Burnley Crown Court.

Sentencing, Judge Christopher Cornwall told the defendant he wanted him to work with a specialist counsellor to put his past behind him so he could live responsibly and not pose a risk to anybody else.

The judge said Street might find the requirements of the register "irksome" but that was the sentence of the court. He continued: "You breached the register again, knowing the consequence is the loss of your liberty."

Sarah Statham, prosecuting, told the court the defendant was convicted of rape in 1999 and was on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

He registered his address with police as Stanley Street and the last time he registered that address with police was in October 2005. He was obliged to register yearly and should have done so in October 2006, the court was told.

Miss Statham said that in January police went to Stanley Street to check up on Street.

The defendant told officers he was living there but his bedroom looked unlived in and had no bedding.

He then admitted to police that he had been living somewhere else. The court was told Street had breached the order before and had been sent to prison for it in 2004.

Tim Ashmole, defend-ing, said Street pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. A suspended sentence would be a threat to him if he breached the order again.

It would also give him the help he needed.