Anglesey sex offender, 35, downloaded app to delete history

ANGLESEY SEX OFFENDER, 35, DOWNLOADED APP TO DELETE HISTORY

A CONVICTED sex offender from Anglesey has been spared jail after breaching the terms of his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

Martin Green, 35, of Gerddi Stanley, Beaumaris, was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, at Caernarfon Crown Court today (December 5).

He had previously admitted three counts of breaching a SHPO.

Prosecutor Catherine Elvin said Green was jailed and handed a 10-year SHPO in 2019 after being convicted of attempted sexual communication with a child.

The terms of this SHPO involved him using an internet browser which retained his browsing history and using only messaging applications approved by police.

But when police visited Green on July 1, officers found he had installed the application DuckDuckGo, designed to delete internet browsing history, on his phone.

He had also downloaded another application, Phone Guardian, which enhanced privacy online and had been active on his phone for more than four years.

Green also had WhatsApp installed on his phone but had not informed police about this.

He was arrested, but denied knowledge of the DuckDuckGo application, and suggested Phone Guardian was to protect his phone from viruses.

While he said he had used WhatsApp to contact his family, he accepted he should have told police about downloading this application.

Representing Green, who had one previous conviction, Paulinus Barnes asked the court to acknowledge his guilty pleas.

Mr Barnes said Green has stable accommodation and is in employment, but that he and his wife live on “very limited income”.

They both clean toilets for a living, earn less than £800 a month between them, and are in receipt of Universal Credit.

Sentencing, Judge Nicola Jones told Green his breaches were “deliberate”.

But she added: “I think I should suspend your sentence, because you are capable of rehabilitation, and work needs to be done on you to provide protection for the community at large.” Green will complete a 26-session “building choices” programme, and 15 days’ rehabilitation activity.