A registered sex offender from Caerphilly has been given an immediate 16-week prison term for failing to keep police informed of his whereabouts while he had nowhere to live.
Philip Evans, 43, admitted breaching the notification requirements that apply to sex offenders when he went before Newport Magistrates’ Court.
The breach
Registered sex offenders must regularly keep police up to date about their address and living arrangements.
Evans was subject to a notification order under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Magistrates heard that on September 28 he failed, without reasonable excuse, to tell police on a weekly basis that he was of no fixed abode.
Plea and sentence
Evans admitted the offence at the first opportunity and received credit for doing so. The court noted he would otherwise have faced 24 weeks’ imprisonment.
Magistrates ruled the offence was so serious that only immediate custody could be justified. They pointed to its nature and seriousness, as well as Evans’ previous record.
The 16-week term will run concurrently with a recall prison sentence Evans was already serving. He was also ordered to pay £85 in prosecution costs.
Second allegation withdrawn
The prosecution dropped a further allegation that Evans had breached a sexual harm prevention order by not notifying police each week. No conviction was recorded on that matter.
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