A man communicated with two young girls unsupervised in the street despite being banned from having contact with children under the terms of his sexual risk order (SRO).
Serial offender Patrick Cunnington, 24, admitted a ninth breach of the SRO – which was granted in 2018 and prohibits him from communicating with anyone under the age of 16 – at Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning (8 September).
The defendant, who was on bail for two other breaches of his order, was brought before the court after being arrested on Tuesday (7 September) and remanded in police custody overnight. He was supported in the courtroom by his girlfriend of eight months.
Crown prosecutor Pauline Lambert said Cunnington, of Prospect Hill, Old Town, was living in a shared house and whilst outside the property, he would talk to his neighbour – who was unaware of his offending history – and her two children aged 9 and 11.
In the mother’s statement, she described him as “very friendly” as he always took the time to speak with her children, asking about what they did over the school holidays and about their new hamster. She estimated he’d spoken to the children on around 30 occasions between April and 5 September this year.
He added his new neighbour on Facebook on 21 August, and she accepted. When the woman posted a photograph of her girls on the social platform wearing their school uniform, Cunnington left a comment saying “Awh, have fun”, along with laughing emojis.
The woman’s ex-partner contacted her and asked why she was friends with him on Facebook, but she was completely unaware of his history. Immediately Googling him, she said the results made her “feel sick” and she contacted Wiltshire Police to report his behaviour.
For most of the occasions he communicated with her children, she was “present in the background”, but for many others, they were alone and Cunnington was unsupervised with them.
When police attended this address armed with this new information, he lunged at them with his fists clenched. He was restrained and handcuffed to prevent any assaults. After he’d calmed down, his handcuffs were removed and he was transported to custody.
Ms Lambert asked magistrates to refuse the defendant bail due to the fact this new offence was committed whilst on bail ahead of sentencing on 21 September. She also asked that the case was sent to the crown court for sentencing, concerned the bench’s powers would be insufficient.
“He does not comply with this order, the current order, and does not comply with his bail conditions”, she told the court.
Adding: “There are no bail conditions which could be in place to stop him re-offending. He should be remanded in custody for fear of further offending.”
The court heard how Cunnington is categorised as a “high risk of harm to children”.
Charlotte Frizzell, defending, opposed the remand application made by the prosecution, saying sending her client to prison would not help him.
“Every day in passing, he says hello, and he does converse with them.
“He admits he’s seen them on their own and would say hello. He feels it would be odd that he does not speak to them when their mother is not around, he feels it would make them think there’s something wrong with them.
“There is no underlying cause, he was being neighbourly, they spoke a lot.
“She [the children’s mother] has been around and asked his girlfriend to babysit her children. He told his girlfriend, who is in court supporting him, that it could not happen.
“He’s quite immature for his age and he has significant trust issues with people in authority.”
Magistrates, after retiring for a few minutes to discuss the matter, decided to remand Cunnington into custody. They committed the case for sentence at Swindon Crown Court in October.
READ MORE ON THIS:
- Man admits EIGHTH breach of sexual risk order by adding child on Facebook
- Man admits SEVENTH breach of sexual risk order by failing to declare phone
