REECE ASHURST

NELSON MAN GETS SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR BREACHING SEXUAL HARM PREVENTION ORDER

Reece Ashurst, aged 27 from Forest Street, Nelson, has been re-sentenced after failing to comply with his sexual harm prevention order on multiple occasions.

He initially pleaded guilty to sexual communication with a child in May 2023.

The court heard he had been messaging a decoy account he believed was a 13-year-old, sending topless pictures of himself, discussing oral sex, and suggesting he would pick up the decoy in his car.

Ashurst was given a community sexual prevention order for two years by Burnley Magistrates' Court acting as Burnley Crown Court.

In October 2023, it was noted that Ashurst had breached his order by failing to update police with his new address, not attending required appointments, and entering a premises where a child was present, among other breaches.

He was arrested in December 2023 and has already served over three months in custody.

In mitigation, his lawyer highlighted that these were minor breaches and that Ashurst had been living chaotically at the time but was now seeking to better himself.

Ultimately, Ashurst pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching the sexual harm prevention order and two counts of failure to comply with notifications.

Judge Sara Dodd sentenced him to 12 months in custody, suspended for 21 months, emphasizing that this was his first time in custody but urging him to engage with the order and change his ways.