A man who repeatedly breached a sexual risk order (SRO) has been jailed, Wiltshire 999s can reveal.
Patrick Cunnington, 25, admitted a further three breaches of the strict order at various hearings at Swindon Magistrates’ Court last year – bringing the total number of breaches to nine.
He was given the five-year SRO – preventing him from contacting anyone under the age of 16 – in 2018 after the police presented evidence he was a “significant risk” to underage girls. Despite that, he has never been convicted of a child sex offence.
He is also banned from having devices capable of internet access or storing images unless they are declared to his allocated police offender manager, amongst other requirements.
The defendant pleaded guilty to breaching the order by failing to declare mobile phones with internet and image storage capabilities. and by adding a child on Facebook.
He was hauled back before the courts when a mother of two was alerted to the fact she was friends with Cunnington, a neighbour, on social media by the father of her children.
Immediately Googling him, she said the results made her “feel sick” and she contacted Wiltshire Police to report his behaviour – which included his unsupervised conversations with her youngsters, aged 9 and 11, in the street.
For most of the occasions he communicated with her children, she was “present in the background”, but for many others, they were alone and he was unsupervised with them.
The court heard how Cunnington is categorised as a “high risk of harm to children”, and all three matters were sent to Swindon Crown Court, where the SRO was imposed.
He was jailed for a total of three years for his crimes, and told to pay a £190 surcharge. The court ordered the destruction of the undeclared Samsung mobile phone seized by police.
The SRO remains in place.
