Two notorious paedophiles had to receive a Garda escort after receiving threats locally.
Child rapist James White, 48, and his pal Jason Lydiard, 26, registered with Gardai in Letterkenny on Friday last.
However, sightings of the pair in various towns across Donegal sparked a social media frenzy.
Pictures of the pair’s blue Peugeot car was posted online and shared extensively.
The pair event tried to buy a new car in Ballybofey on Friday evening but were recognised by the car dealer.
On Saturday morning they were chased from a car park close to the Poundland store in Strabane, Co Tyrone and again fled back to Donegal.
On Saturday evening the duo contacted Gardai and were pictured at Trusk on the outskirts of Ballybofey receiving a Garda escort towards Castlederg in Co Tyrone.
One local man who observed the pair being escorted towards the border said the sex offenders are not welcome locally.
And he warned that people across Donegal will be watching f they return.
“Our message here is quite simple – they are not welcome to stay in Donegal and will never be welcome.
“They may have served their time in prison but they still pose a danger to our children and we will not stand by and watch them live amongst us.
“If they come back here they will be sent a very direct message to that effect again,” said the man.
The pair were first spotted in Letterkenny on Friday morning and were loitering close to a circus in the town.
Gardai in Letterkenny confirmed they had registered with them.
Gardai have intelligence that the duo — both originally from the North and considered “high-risk sex offenders” — have been approaching children as part of a depraved double act.
Although the pair served time in the North, they are still required to inform gardai of their whereabouts here.
A Garda bulletin was sent to every station in the country to warn officers to be on the lookout for the pair.
And Lydiard — who also uses the name Alexis Guesto and considers himself a Born-Again Christian — is also suspected of using a fake social media profile as part of his plans to identify potential victims.
Investigators believe the pair became friends after Lydiard, originally from Co Down, was freed from custody in the North earlier this year.
He had finished a seven-month sentence for ignoring a court order banning him from online dating sites.
Although he has nine previous convictions for sexual assault, assaults causing harm and threats to kill, White is considered to be the more dangerous.
Smith, who is originally from south Armagh, he was jailed here in 1998 for horrific attacks — two counts of buggery and five charges of sexual assault — on a teenage boy in Co Meath. He was freed in 2003.
He once threatened to kill a social worker with a hammer, has 62 previous convictions in all, including sexual assault, assault causing bodily harm and threats to kill.
After completing his sentence here, he returned to the North in 2006 and was living in different areas across the border.
