Convicted sex offender jailed after watching young girls play football

Nathaniel Cowan, 64, attended a match between under-13 teams in violation of a prohibition imposed because of his past crimes.

He was given six months in custody due to the breach of his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).

Police were alerted after a member of the public spotted Cowan at Ulidia Playing Fields on the Ormeau Road on November 26 last year.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard he was observed to be watching the girls’ football match at the time.

Cowan, with a hostel address in the city, is banned from activities involving females under the age of 16 following previous sexual offences.

He admitted attending the playing fields but initially claimed to be unaware the girls were under 13 and said that he had only been there for five minutes.

Despite further allegations that he was filming the match, an examination of his phone confirmed there were no recordings stored on it.

Defence solicitor Eoghan McKenna told the court Cowan had lost his accommodation and was left homeless amid tensions within the local community.

Mr Kenna said his client accepted breaching the SOPO but stressed that he regularly walked in that park.

However, District Judge Anne Marshall responded: “He just stumbled across an under-13 (girls’) football match?”

Imposing two months' custody for the breach, she also ordered Cowan to serve a further four months from previously suspended prison terms.