Convicted paedophile hosted family of Ukrainian refugees for weeks before checks were complete on his past

A man in Northern Ireland hosted a Ukrainian family of refugees for weeks before checks found that he was a convicted paedophile.The family, who had a baby, moved into a mobile home on the man's property in County Armagh.According to The Sunday Independent, checks that were carried by the Home Office did not flag that he had been convicted of sexually abusing a child.However, a second check carried out by an external agency acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive Office, discovered his conviction during a home visit.It was during the visit that the man revealed his past crime.Following this, the Ukrainian family were moved to an emergency accommodation.The Executive Office statement read: "It is important to be clear that at the time of the visit, no Ukrainians had arrived with the sponsor. During this visit, an issue was raised in relation to a previous sexual offence conviction.

"Immediately after the visit, Access NI and the Health & Social Care safeguarding checks on the sponsor were initiated.

"The details of the previous conviction were confirmed in the Access NI certificate when it was received on 15 August.

"On 17 August, the Homes for Ukraine Escalation Panel, which oversees the safeguarding checks, met and agreed that the nature of the offence meant that the individual was not suitable to sponsor Ukrainian refugees.

"The individual and the Ukrainian family were made aware of this decision by email. At this stage, the agencies working on the Homes for Ukraine scheme had not been informed that the Ukrainian guests had arrived in Northern Ireland."