Allan Smith 38

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Carlisle child sex offender jailed for hiding phones and social media accounts

A CHILD sex offender from Carlisle who concealed phones and social media accounts from police has blamed his latest offending on “isolation” caused by his past crimes.

Allan Smith, 38, of Hawick Street, was placed on the Sex Offender Register in 2017 after grooming a 15-year-old girl online and sexually abusing her.

He was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court for six new breaches: three of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and three of Sex Offender Register rules.

Prosecutor Adam Quine told the court Smith failed to notify police of five social media accounts he was using, concealed two mobile phones, did not disclose usernames for online accounts, failed to declare several bank cards, and did not reveal he had stayed at a property in Penrith where a child was living.

The breaches followed Smith’s original 2017 offences, when, aged 27, he contacted the 15-year-old girl via Facebook, accepted her friend request, and sent messages requesting photographs of her in underwear and without, before asking for sex. In 2024 he was also prosecuted for exposure after being seen performing a sex act in a neighbour’s front garden.

When questioned by police, Smith falsely claimed he did not use the internet and had no social media accounts.

Defence barrister Marion Weir said Smith was “at a loss” to explain his behaviour but cited the impact of his registered-offender status. 

“His accommodation has been set on fire, his doors glued, and his windows broken,” she said. “He seems to revert back to his old behaviour almost like a comfort blanket.

“He has lost his grandparents this has led to a feeling of isolation and a lack of emotional support. He recognises that if he continues on this path, it will become a revolving door at HMP Durham.”

Weir added that Smith planned to move to another part of Cumbria where his past was less well known and “knows he has to change his behaviour.” She confirmed there were no underlying sexual offences linked to the breaches.

Judge Michael Fanning described the 2017 case as grooming a 15-year-old girl followed by a serious contact sexual offence, and noted the more recent offence of sending a female a picture of his genitals to cause alarm and distress.

The judge accepted the child at the Penrith property was a boy and had not been at risk.

Smith was jailed for two years, plus a further eight weeks for the activation of a suspended sentence. He previously lived at Stonegarth, Carlisle.