A CONVICTED child sex offender, who failed to appear in court last week for sentencing, is finally behind bars after being arrested.

Antony Hunter, 35, moved from his home in England to Rosyth and committed further child sex offences.

He had previously been granted bail at Dunfermline Sheriff Court and warned that it was “almost inevitable” that he would be jailed for his latest offences.

As the Press reported last week, a warrant was granted when Hunter failed to appear.

However, he was finally brought to court having been arrested by police at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy.

Defence solicitor Roshni Joshi told the court her client had been in hospital since last week. None of the reports, which had previously been called for by the court, were available.

As a result, sentence was further deferred until December 7 and Hunter was remanded in custody.

Hunter had been jailed in Leicester for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he met through Facebook, moved to Fife and carried on offending.

He breached court-imposed restrictions on contact with children by sharing a bedroom with a five-year-old girl.

Police then discovered that Hunter had been downloading child pornography in his new home in Rosyth. There were more than 300 illegal images on his devices.

He told officers he was attracted to girls aged from 14 and said: “I know I have a problem and I need help.”

When he appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Hunter admitted that between June 2 and 24, 2015, at his home in Parkside Street, Rosyth, he downloaded indecent photographs of children.

He also admitted that between August 10 and September 24, 2015, at Rose Street, Burntisland; Parkside Street, Rosyth and elsewhere, being a person subject to the notification requirements of Sexual Offences Act, he failed to notify police of the address where he was residing.

Hunter further admitted that being a person subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order granted at Leicester Crown Court on July 7, 2011, he breached conditions by having unsupervised contact with two girls aged five and 10 in Rose Street, Burntisland, between August 10 and 24, 2015.

Hunter, from Loughborough, came to Scotland for a holiday with his mother in Burntisland along with the two young girls. Hunter shared a bedroom with a five-year-old girl during the holiday.

He then moved in to live with his mother in Rosyth, without telling police he was no longer living in the Leicestershire area.

In August 2011, Hunter was jailed for two years at Leicester for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he had met through Facebook.