A FORMER police sergeant who lost his job after flouting a non-molestation order put in place to protect his former partner was hauled back into court after he breached it again.

Dean Reid, 50, was dismissed from his role after a 23-year career after breaching an order put in place in the Family Courts in April 2019.

In September 2019, he breached the order for a second time when he accessed his ex partner’s ParentPay account.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard he changed details on the account causing his former partner to have to replace her card.

But Kevin Baumber, mitigating, said Reid had accessed the account to ensure his son could pay for lunch at school.

He said: “At the time the change was made to the account, the complainant was planning to add him to that account in any event, which she says in her evidence.

“He had custody of the children in question on the ParentPay account.

“The wider context is on the day in question the child had no money on the account and it was needed to get the lunch.

“This isn’t a defence because he should have got her to add him, she became locked out, and so on and so forth.”

He added that both breaches occurred during a period of “complete emotional turmoil” in Reid’s life but said his family life had since turned around.

“He’s very much forward looking now,” he said.

“Such that these problems in the relationship, his original difficulties in accepting it was at an end, are really ancient history and in fact they’ve got so far as to be engaging now in family therapy.”

Reid, of Bentley Road, Great Bentley, admitted breaching a non-molestation order.

Judge David Turner QC said he did not want to “blight his future prospects” with a prison sentence.

He imposed a community order for 18 months, with 180 hours of unpaid work, and ordered Reid to pay prosecution costs of £200.

A restraining order was put in place for 18 months prohibiting contact with his ex-partner.