ANDREW WARD FROM HOLBURY FACES COURT IN SOUTHAMPTON OVER SEX OFFENDER BREACHES

In January 2020, a serious legal case involving Andrew Ward, a known sex offender from Holbury, has come to the forefront as he prepares to face sentencing at Southampton Crown Court. The case centers around Ward's alleged failure to adhere to strict notification requirements mandated by law, as well as his unlawful residence with a child for an extended period.

Andrew Travis Ward, aged 44, is scheduled to appear before the court next month to be formally sentenced for violating his legal obligations. The charges stem from Ward's decision to stay at an address that had not been previously registered with authorities for the required seven-day period, a clear breach of his notification duties. Furthermore, he stayed at a residence with a child for a minimum of 12 hours, an act explicitly prohibited by the conditions of his sex offender registration.

Ward's legal troubles began to unfold at Southampton Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with notification requirements. His case was subsequently adjourned until February 11, and it was transferred to Southampton Crown Court for sentencing proceedings. As part of the legal process, Ward was granted conditional bail, allowing him to remain free until the next scheduled hearing.

This case is part of a broader pattern of legal issues faced by Ward, who has a history of criminal activity related to child exploitation. In October 2018, Ward, then 42 and residing on Holbury Drove in Holbury, was involved in a separate case concerning possession of child abuse images. Despite the severity of the charges, Ward was handed a relatively lenient sentence of a two-year community order at Portsmouth Crown Court.

During that earlier hearing, Ward admitted to 12 charges of creating indecent images of children, with victims as young as eight years old. Notably, a charge related to importing an obscene item, specifically a child sex doll, was dropped after prosecutors clarified that Ward was being prosecuted over a large-breasted doll seized at Heathrow Airport, not the flat-chested doll involved in the initial allegations. The prosecution’s case was further complicated by a mix-up, leading a judge to stay the prosecution on that particular charge.

As part of his sentence, Ward was ordered to complete 35 days of rehabilitation activities, pay costs amounting to £375, and register as a sex offender for six years. The case highlighted the ongoing concerns about Ward’s conduct and the potential risk posed to children, given the disturbing nature of the images involved in his previous conviction.