A paedophile – who last appeared in court days before Christmas dressed as an elf – has avoided an immediate jail sentence after kissing two children.

Thumb-sucking Janiel Verainer, of High Street, Chatham, identifies as a five-year-old girl.

Ahead of a sentencing hearing last week, the 60-year-old's dummy was left on the counter during a routine search at Maidstone Crown Court and was later placed in a bin.

Wearing pigtails, an Alice band, a dress, long socks and a cape, Verainer sat sobbing in the dock after hearing the charge of breaching an order carried a maximum two-year jail term.

Judge Philip St John-Stevens was told how Verainer kissed two young children on the lips after playing piano at a gathering in 2019.

It breached a 2016 Sexual Harm Prevention Order made at Canterbury Crown Court which required Verainer to stay away from children.

At the 2016 hearing Verainer asked to be called Jorven Seren and claimed to identify as a five-year-old girl but was jailed for 15 months for kissing a girl outside a cafe in Thanet.

Then living in Grotto Hill, Margate, indecent images were also found on Verainer's phone.

At the time psychiatrists concluded the defendant, who was told off by the judge for hugging a large doll throughout the hearing, had personality problems but no mental health issues.

Verainer admitted the 2019 offence just before Christmas, entering court dressed in a red and green seasonal outfit, with a woollen cardigan, Santa Claus badge and red and green elf-like cap.

Now, defence barrister Eve George told the judge Verainner was "absolutely terrified" of returning to prison.

The convicted sex offender, who admitted the breach was given a seven-month jail term suspended for 18 months and told to carry out 20 rehabilitation days with the probation service.

The judge did not order Verrainer to pay the £1,800 costs of bringing the case to court but he extended the SHPO to 2030.