A convicted sex offender from south Armagh who was being hunted by police for breach of his bail conditions in the North, was arrested by Gardai in Kilkenny last Tuesday morning, and subsequently released on bail again.
A nationwide search was launched for 26 year old Jason Lydiard, who is originally from Bessbrook, along with fellow paedophile, James White (48), also from the south Armagh area, following serious breaches of their release conditions. The pair have a string of sexual offences convictions between them and have been dubbed “two of the most dangerous men in Ireland at the moment.” Investigators believe they forged an alliance after Lydiard finished a seven month sentence earlier this year for ignoring a court order which banned him from online dating sites. The Bessbrook man, who also goes by the name Alexis Gusto, has nine previous convictions for sexual assault, assaults causing harm and threats to kill, but it is his friend, White, who is considered to be the more dangerous of the two.
The 48 year old was jailed in the Republic in 1998 for a series of horrific attacks, including two counts of buggery and five charges of sexual assault on a teenage boy in Co Meath. He was released from prison in 2003.
The convicted paedophile, who also once threatened to kill a social worker with a hammer, has 62 previous convictions in total, ranging from sexual assault, assault causing bodily harm and threats to kill.
Gardai issued a warning last week after the pair refused to inform authorities of their whereabouts — a stipulation of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
Lydiard was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years in 2017 and was banned from working with children, after he admitted grooming and touching a boy under the age of 16 in 2016.
He was confronted by an off-duty Garda who spotted him in Kilkenny on Tuesday morning, after both men had travelled to the Republic, where they can move freely as they are only on the Sex Offenders Register in the North.
Garda Damien Rafter was alerted by a neighbour and arrested Lydiard on suspicion of having no insurance. He was subsequently charged with the alleged offence and appeared before Kilkenny District Court, where he was remanded on bail to appear in court on May 15th.
White was also spotted in Kilkenny on the same day but his current whereabouts are unknown.