GRAHAM JOHNSON

CHESTER: SEX OFFENDER WHO BREACHED ORDER SENTENCED

A Chester sex offender who breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order has been handed a community order.

Graham Johnson, 67, of Newhall Road, Upton, had previously pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to the breach, which occurred on May 16 in Chester.

Prosecutor Rachel Thomas explained that Johnson was initially given the SHPO in April 2015 after being convicted on five counts of making indecent images of children.

The SHPO included a ten-year restriction preventing him from deleting his internet history.

During a routine home visit in May this year, officers checked Johnson's mobile phone and found only one internet search from that day.

They also discovered an app that cleaned internet history.

Johnson claimed the app had been on his phone since he obtained it, and in police interview, said he had "accidentally deleted" his internet history, or that the app had done so.

He said he had run the app that morning and added if he had known it was deleting internet history, he would have deleted the app himself.

Defending, Patrick Geddes said Johnson had already been subject to nearly the full length of the ten-year SHPO and described this breach as a "blip" with no escalation.

The court heard that Johnson "deeply regrets" his previous offences and that his deletion of the internet history was "not a conscious decision".

The magistrates sentenced Johnson to a 12-month community order, during which he must complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay a £114 victim surcharge and £85 in court costs.