Saffian Liaqat 31

Description

A convicted sex offender who flouted a strict court order by using an internet phone has been jailed.

Saffian Liaqat, 31, was being managed in the community by specialist officers when they visited him at his home in Peterborough in August last year.

Liaqat was forbidden from using or owning any device capable of accessing the internet or storing digital images without informing police under the terms of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO). The order also stated he must surrender any such device to police when asked to do so.

When officers arrived at his home last year, Liaqat claimed he’d lost his basic, non-internet device permitted under his conditions, but officers later found an internet phone belonging to him hidden on top of a wardrobe.  

A further search of this device revealed Liaqat had been using it to access various social media platforms. 

Liaqat, of Longthorpe, Peterborough, later pleaded guilty to breaching a SHPO and was sentenced to one year in prison at Huntingdon Law Courts on Friday (23 January).

Detective Constable Claire Cummings, from the specialist management of sexual or violent offenders unit (MOSOVO), said:

“Liaqat showed a complete disregard for his sexual harm prevention order and notification requirements, which are in place to safeguard the public. These new convictions reflect the serious sexual risk of harm he poses.

 “Our specialist officers work tirelessly to monitor and manage all registered sex offenders in the community and won’t hesitate to put them back before the courts if they discover any breaches.”