A transgender paedophile has been jailed after using a female name to violate a court order.

Luke Hardy, 24, was jailed for using aliases online, having repeatedly broken an order to prevent further offences.

Hardy, who identifies as Zoe Hardy, was referred to using female pronouns throughout the sentencing hearing at Teesside Crown Court for breaching sexual harm prevention orders (SHPOs).

The paedophile was first sentenced to a community order in 2022 for three counts of making indecent images of children.

These images, which were found on Hardy's mobile phone, included eight of the most serious kind.

However, by erasing his phone's internet history and deleting dating apps, the 24-year-old breached the order in 2023.

Hardy then breached the order again later that year by registering on a pornography website using the name "Lucy".

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This was prohibited, as police had not been previously made aware of this alias.

The court heard that authorities had been told sexuality was something Hardy struggled with, "sometimes feeling like Luke, sometimes like Lucy".

Prosecutor Saba Shan said the latest breach was discovered in July when officers designated Hardy a "high-risk sex offender" and visited the paedophile's home in Stockton.

Authorities found the 24-year-old had used the name "Zoe" on a dating app, as well as for an email account and on a mobile game.

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It is understood that this constituted a breach because Hardy failed to inform police about the use of any aliases online.

The 24-year-old was jailed by Judge Richard Clews for eight months for breaching the SHPOs - as well as an extra month for activating part of his previous suspended sentences.

Clews said told the defendant: "It is appropriate to describe the breaches of the sexual harm prevention order as persistent and deliberate."

He added the sentence had been made on the basis no harm was caused to anyone else by Hardy breaching the orders.