Amsterdam - The Dutch court on Tuesday ruled that the city of Eindhoven was not authorized to ban a convicted paedophile from resettling there following his release from jail.

The court in Den Bosch in the southern Netherlands said that even if there was reasonable fear the man might reoffend, it did not imply the concrete and immediate disturbance of public order as argued by the city.

On October 16, Sytze van der Velde, 61, brought an urgent application against an earlier decision by the mayor his hometown of Eindhoven, Rob van Gijzel, to ban him from the city.

Van Gijzel took the decision after Van der Velde renounced his support of a contract he had previously signed with the city and the justice department determining rules of conduct once he would be released.

In September, Van der Velde was released after having served a jail sentence for rape and sexual misconduct involving four boys from Eindhoven. Since it was his third conviction for sex crimes, the court had also imposed a five-year probation period. (dpa)