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A man who has to give police 24 hours' notice before he has sex with a new partner has had the condition lifted after a court hearing.

John O'Neill, 45, had already lost one legal battle to have the restriction lifted - but has now been told the terms will be changed following a hearing at York Magistrates' Court .

Today a District Judge changed the conditions of the order, stating that Mr O'Neill now has to inform police "as soon as is reasonably practicable" if he wants to form an intimate relationship with a partner.

At an early hearing it emerged that O'Neill - cleared of rape but described by a judge as a 'very dangerous man' - was living in a tent.

Video footage broadcast on The Victoria Derbyshire Show last month showed the 45-year-old show a journalist around the place he lives rough on the outskirts of York.

The reporter asks him: "Do you actually like living here?

O'Neill replies joking: "Once I got used to it yeah I do. The bills are VERY reasonable."

The reporter presses him: "But isn't it demoralising having to live like this?"

O'Neill reveals it isn't the first time he has lived without a roof over his head.

He replies: "It is under the current circumstances, yeah, because I thought this was all behind me.

"I was homeless before - for four years - I thought this was all behind me.

"To have to go back to it, yeah, it has been a bit of a shock."

(Image: PA)

O'Neill was cleared of rape following a retrial at Teesside Crown Court last year but was given the Sexual Risk Order (SRO) after a judge described him as a "very dangerous man".

At the time, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC said after the jury was dismissed: "Please could you inform the authorities that although this man has been acquitted, it is my judgment that he is a very dangerous individual."

Last month O'Neill lobbied to prevent the SRO being made permanent by North Yorkshire Police at York Magistrates Court.

(Image: PA)

He previously claimed the restrictions and conditions he has been ordered to live under make it impossible for him to work.

At that earlier hearing, District Judge Adrian Lower told him the terms of the order would be amended.

He said the condition that he gives the police 24 hours' notice before he starts sexual contact with a new partner was "frankly unpoliceable".

And now that condition has been lifted however judge at York Magistrates Court imposed 12 conditions, including Mr O'Neill's internet usage being monitored by North Yorkshire Police.