A pervert hid his internet history from the authorities because he was "tired of the police always knowing exactly what he was doing".
Nicholas Rayner, 56, was banned from browsing privately online due to his criminal past and has to let officers view which websites he has visited.
Newcastle Crown Court heard during a risk management visit to his home in September, police examined his phone and saw he had accessed a dating site on it.
Go here for the latest reports and live updates from North East courts
When the dating site did not show up on his browser history, they realised it had been deleted.
Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw told the court: "The device used by the defendant was not a standard make or model and the police cannot access and retrieve the deleted internet history from that particular device.
"The Crown simply do not and will never know what the phone was being used for."
Rayner, of Worsdell Street, Cambois, Blyth, Northumberland, admitted breach of a sexual harm prevention order.
The court heard Rayner was jailed for five years in 2002, in Oklahoma, USA, for offences including meeting a girl under 16 after grooming.
On his return to the UK, the authorities were granted an order to require him to register as a sex offender in this country.
In 2008 Rayner was given a two year conditional discharge for failing to comply with the notification requirements by making arrangements to travel to France without informing his risk management officer.
In 2013 he was jailed for two years and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order at Exeter Crown Court for making indecent images.
In 2018 he was jailed for eight months at Exeter Crown Court for failing to comply with notification requirements by having credit cards, a bank account, savings and a plan to travel to Sri Lanka.
Paul Cross, defending, said Rayner had "become tired of the police always knowing exactly what he was doing".
Mr Cross said Rayner had struggled to find a job or a relationship because of his past and had looked at the dating site then changed his mind about joining it.
Judge Christopher Prince sentenced Rayner to eight months behind bars.
Rayner is already on the sex offenders register and has a sexual harm prevention order, for life.
Judge Prince said: "He had purchased a device that allowed him to access the internet and delete the history of his access, rendering it untraceable where he had been on the internet."
