A SEX offender managed to get a job at a theme park because he lied to his bosses about his previous convictions, a court has heard. 

Kyle Ayres, of Longbridge Road, Bramley, was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in December 2020. 

But in March 2022 he got a job as a rides and attractions host at Chessington World of Adventures after he failed to inform bosses about his previous convictions.

Ayres only worked at the theme park on three occasions, March 5, 11 and 17, but during that time he was working on rides.

None of the offences took place during his employment at the park.

In May 2022 he was given a community order after he was found in possession of five devices capable of storing images. He did not make them available for police inspection on request – breaching the order.

The 20-year-old previously admitted to breaching the SHPO, making indecent images of children, failing to comply with notification requirements whilst being on the sex offenders register, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

At Winchester Crown Court on Friday, June 2, Ayres was jailed for six years, with an extended period of three years, and is subject to notification requirements for life.

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The court heard that Ayres’s employment only came to light during a meeting with a probation worker.

Judge Angela Morris said: “During that conversation, you said you were working with an organisation with young adults and children.

“You said you put children in carts, close the door and push buttons. You admitted that you worked at a theme park but not which one.”

It was discovered that Ayres was working at Chessington and that on his application he said had no unspent convictions. No DBS check was carried out by Chessington. 

The court also heard that in March, this year, Ayres was talking to what he thought was a 12-year-old girl online, asking her for naked images and sex. However, he was talking to an undercover police officer.

The court heard that Ayres has Klinefelter syndrome - a common genetic condition where a male is born with an extra X chromosome – and autism.

Judge Morris said that she believed Ayres “presented a very high risk of committing further specified offences” and in doing so would bring harm to the public.

A spokesperson for Chessington World of Adventures said: “On being alerted by the police, our team acted swiftly and immediately suspended the trainee.

"As part of the standard training process, they would have been with a colleague and supervised. We have numerous security measures across the resort and safeguarding policies and procedures in place including DBS checks.

"The safety of our guests is our number one priority.

“For any roles that may have any unsupervised activity or ‘contact’ roles with children or vulnerable adults, additional background checks are conducted before employment can commence, subject to local laws.

"In the UK this means the requirement of a valid DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) certificate. Enhanced checks including a barred list check will be requested for certain roles. No employee is allowed to work alone with children without a valid DBS certificate.”