Locations
Corscombe Close, Ferryhill, Durham, DL17
Description
A high-risk sex offender breached his court order by installing three apps, then deleted them in panic when police arrived.
Jonathan Frost, 43, of Corscombe Close, Ferryhill, received a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after his September 2021 conviction for attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a child following grooming, resulting in a suspended sentence.
Due to his "high risk" of re-offending, monitoring software was installed on his phone.
Prosecutor Kathryn Wetherley told Durham Crown Court that police visited his home on December 15 last year, suspecting unauthorized apps. The apps—Zangi, Plamfly, and Buzzcast—enabled contact with women and were sexual in nature.
Frost let officers in but went to the bathroom. His phone then showed no apps, and he admitted deleting them.
He was arrested and, in interview, acknowledged understanding the SHPO terms, citing a prior breach involving Snapchat.
Frost admitted four breaches: three for installing the apps, one for deleting an image of his private parts.
Miss Wetherley called them "very serious, persistent and deliberate breaches."
Defense counsel Albany Kidd noted Frost's vulnerability, diagnosed learning disabilities, and supportive family living with his parents.
She conceded the deliberate breach but said: "When he saw the police arriving, in a moment of panic, it was a deliberate decision to delete, but it wasn’t calculated or pre-planned." The apps were for conversations with adult women.
Judge Nathan Adams noted these were not Frost's first breaches, as he was given "chances" in 2024.
The judge said: "You were given a further chance and, nevertheless, you are back here again in breach of the SHPO and sex offender notification requirements and the only outcome is immediate custody. You were fully aware deletion would be a direct breach of the order."
He imposed 12 months for the latest breaches, plus eight months activated from a June 2024 suspended sentence, totaling 20 months in prison.
Judge Adams warned further breaches would lead to more custody.