A convicted sex offender must attend Mental Health Treatment Court, a magistrate ordered yesterday.

Devaun Cox, 38, admitted breaching probation conditions by missing a mandatory meeting with his parole officer on January 5, only two days after he was released from prison.

He told the court that he slept through his meeting because his new medication made him drowsy.

Elizabeth Christopher, for the defence, said that her client’s confusion was compounded by the process of leaving Westgate.

She also reminded the court that Cox was “effectively homeless” and slept outside his mother’s house because she could not let him stay inside.

Ms Christopher contested Magistrate Craig Attridge’s suggestion that Cox be sent back to prison if he could not, for whatever reason, adhere to the conditions of his probation.

She explained that her client struggled with a mental illness, a brain injury and potential drug abuse.

Ms Christopher called on medical centres on the island that could help him to step forward.

She said: “This is a person of worth who struggles to regulate himself, as we all know.

“Those people who have these facilities cannot just wash their hands of this.

“The courts do not have hospitals, they do not have treatment centres – but the hospitals, they do.”

Ms Christopher further warned that, if her client did not find residential treatment soon, he could be killed or hurt someone else.

“They could kill him,” she said.

She added: “I’m not saying this is anyone’s fault but we are watching the failure of the system in real time.”

Adley Duncan, for the Crown, said that Cox would benefit from stronger mental health resources.

But he reminded the court: “These are very special circumstances that Bermuda right now cannot accommodate.”

Mr Duncan suggested that Cox be sent to St Andrew’s Hospital in Britain for further treatment but acknowledged that this could take weeks to approve and begged the question: “What do we do with him?”

Mr Attridge suggested that Cox could benefit from the structured environment provided by Mental Health Treatment Court, in which he could be visiting the court on a weekly basis instead of a monthly basis.

He ordered Cox to attend the next sitting of the treatment court tomorrow and remanded him in custody until then.

It will be determined in this court whether or not he will be given bail.

Cox had been held in custody since January 9 after he was brought before Magistrates’ Court accused of the probation breach.

He was released from prison on January 3 after serving eight months of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a woman.

The sentence was handed down on December 29 after Cox had been behind bars since May. It included a mandatory 18-month probation upon his release, where he was ordered to refrain from alcohol or drug use, submit to urine screenings and take part in any programmes suggested by court staff.