LUKE FORESHEW

PONTYPOOL SEX OFFENDER DOWNLOADED AND DELETED TELEGRAM APP

A CONVICTED sex offender secretly re-downloaded and deleted the Telegram app despite being banned from doing so by a court order.

Luke Foreshew was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order in 2023 for multiple counts of attempting sexual communication with a child.

He was sentenced to a three-year community order and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Under the terms of the order, Foreshew was banned from deleting any internet history, data, or files from his devices.

Police conducted a routine inspection of the defendant’s mobile phone at his Pontypool home on September 11.

During this, the officer found a message from August 14 with a one-time passcode for accessing the Telegram app.

However, the app was not on his phone.

Foreshew denied having used the app, but a forensic analysis of the device found the app had been deleted and was last accessed on August 27.

Following this, Foreshew accepted he deleted the app, claiming he used it to contact a friend and then deleted it shortly after.

The judge remarked, “We all know Telegram, how it’s often used.

What he actually did is unclear.” Foreshew pleaded guilty to breaching his sexual harm prevention order.

The 29-year-old from Raglan Close in Talywain had two previous convictions for eight offences, including a 2017 sentence for possessing child sex abuse images.

The court sentenced him to four months, suspended for one year, with 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a £150 costs order.

The community order remains in place, with the judge warning that continued deletion of history could lead to prison.