Locations
Town Hill, Warrington, WA1
Description
Sex offender back behind bars for second SHPO breach
A sex offender is back in prison after breaching his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) for a second time.
Darren Bennett, 47, of Town Hill, Warrington, was convicted at Crewe Magistrates’ Court of two breaches on 27 February.
He was caught in possession of a device capable of storing digital images and failed to provide police access for inspection. He also failed, without reasonable excuse, to notify Cheshire Police within three days that he had acquired a device capable of accessing the internet, providing its make, model and serial number.
Bennett initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea on the day of trial and admitted both offences. Magistrates said the case had crossed the custody threshold because of his “flagrant disregard for court orders”. They jailed him for six months immediately and ordered him to pay a £154 victim surcharge. His SHPO will continue.
The order was imposed last April when Bennett was given a 21-month suspended sentence for attempted sexual communications with a child and attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.
Chester Crown Court heard he had spent more than two weeks chatting online with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl — in fact an adult decoy — telling her she was ‘sexy’, asking what size her breasts were, how he could please her and about her sexual history. He sent her photos of his penis and asked for naked images, admitting the communications were “for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification”.
Just days after being spared jail, Bennett breached the SHPO by hiding in the bathroom of a property where a child lived. He was jailed for 18 months in July. Police had visited him shortly afterwards to remind him of the order, but he returned to the address.