DAVID DELAHUNTY CAUGHT IN CURROCK: CARLISLE'S SHOCKING SEX OFFENDER INCIDENTS REVEALED

In October 2013, a disturbing incident unfolded at a Home Bargains store near the Carlisle bus station, located in the district of Currock. A 14-year-old schoolgirl was subjected to an unsettling encounter with David Delahunty, a man with a troubling history of sexual misconduct and legal restrictions. According to court reports, Delahunty, aged 57 and residing on Grasmere Street in Currock, approached the young girl inside the store, causing her significant distress.

Witnesses, including store staff, observed Delahunty attempting to engage the girl in conversation. One staff member, who had previously been targeted by Delahunty with suggestive comments upon his entry into the shop, moved closer to monitor his behavior. Despite the girl’s efforts to ignore him and then to distance herself, Delahunty persisted for approximately fifteen minutes, gradually moving nearer to her. The situation escalated until a staff member intervened, instructing Delahunty to leave the girl alone. He complied and exited the premises shortly thereafter.

However, law enforcement was quickly involved. Police officers identified Delahunty as the individual involved and arrested him. His prior criminal record revealed a pattern of inappropriate conduct. Notably, he had previously been in trouble for making lewd suggestions to two women waiting at a bus stop on West Tower Street. Additionally, Delahunty had falsely claimed to have just been released from Durham Prison, where he was serving time for rape, a statement that was untrue. These incidents led to a court order in January that explicitly banned him from speaking to any lone women.

Despite this, Delahunty was found to have breached the court’s Sexual Offences Prevention Order by engaging with the schoolgirl in the shop. Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told Carlisle Crown Court that although the girl was “shaken but not distressed,” she was “freaked out” by the encounter. She later told police, “I wasn’t scared. I just thought he was weird.”

During police interviews, Delahunty admitted that his difficulty in adhering to the court order stemmed from his “naturally talkative” nature. When asked why he approached the girl, he claimed, “I don’t have any reason except being friendly.” His guilty plea to breaching the court order resulted in a sentence of a six-month curfew from 6 pm to 6 am for six months. This was in addition to a nine-month suspended prison sentence that had been imposed in January. The court also considered his history of alcohol abuse, with his barrister, Sara Davie, explaining that Delahunty had been drinking since the age of 10, which contributed to his problematic behavior.

In a related incident from February 2013, Delahunty was convicted of making sexually offensive remarks to two women at a bus stop. As part of his punishment, Carlisle Crown Court issued a strict ten-year ban prohibiting him from approaching or speaking to any lone female in public, unless in an emergency. This order was a response to an incident where Delahunty, then 56, approached a woman in her 20s at West Tower Street, complimenting her and making lewd comments. He falsely claimed to have just been released from Durham Prison for rape, and then kissed her on the cheek as she boarded a bus, leaving her feeling disgusted and frightened.

The court heard that Delahunty had no conviction for rape but had a history of pestering young children and was under investigation for making sexual comments to young girls. Defense lawyer Keith Thomas highlighted that Delahunty’s excessive drinking was a factor in his behavior, noting that he initially denied the allegations but later accepted them after his own daughter advised him that no woman would fabricate such stories. The judge sentenced him to nine months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered him to complete 120 hours of unpaid community work. Additionally, Delahunty was placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years, subjected to probation supervision, and mandated to undergo treatment for his binge drinking habits.