Bungling Leeds paedophile banned from having a smartphone dropped device in front of police officer

Sex offender Liam Hunter is on a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) that bans him from using such devices and allows police to keep a close eye on his internet use in general. The 29-year-old was jailed in 2019 for sexual activity with a child and received the six-year SHPO.

When an offender management officer visited his home on Edgware Place in Harehills on February 28 this year, the Nokia fell onto the table as he was quizzed and then refuted possessing any phones. He then tired to claim he had only bought it that day, but a quick look at the device’s search history found that he had used it for the previous 10 days.

They also found that he had been searching for animal-porn images, prosecutor Austin Newman told Leeds Crown Court.

He was arrested a week later and said he wanted to take clothes with him, realising remand was likely. But as the spare clothes were being searched a second phone was found hidden in a sock. Hunter made full admissions during interview.

Hunter was jailed for three-and-a-half years at York Crown Court in 2019 for admitting having sex with a vulnerable girl that he had met through Facebook. The girl did not comply with a prosecution, but DNA testing proved his involvement.

He was then subsequently jailed for two years in 2021 for breaching his SHPO and failing to comply with the sex offenders register. Held on remand in HMP Doncaster, he appeared via video link and unrepresented in court he admitted two breaches of his SHPO for his latest offending.

He told the court: “I would like to apologise for my behaviour. I fully admit it and it was wrong. There’s nothing more I can really say.”

Jailing him for 20 months, Judge Christopher Batty told him: “You know it’s serious, it’s a persistent breach and it was two phones. But you admitted it right from the outset so you are entitled to full credit.”