A convicted paedophile from Porthcawl has been sentenced after being caught with children’s underwear and secretly communicating with a 14-year-old girl, in breach of a court order designed to protect youngsters. 📱⚖️
Andrew Thornton, 56, of Lakeview Close, was previously convicted of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child in 2021, receiving a three-year community order and a five-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) that banned him from contacting children under 16.
When probation officers examined his phone on 28th April during a routine check related to a travel application, they discovered the encrypted messaging app Zangi, which cannot be traced by authorities. Officers also found the Telegram app and Airbnb bookings on his device.
A search of Thornton’s address uncovered two unregistered phones, one of which had been used to contact a 14-year-old girl. Police also discovered children’s underwear sized between 12 and 14 years old, for which Thornton “failed to provide an explanation.”
Prosecutor Pamela Kaiga told Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday that the defendant had breached multiple conditions of his SHPO.
In mitigation, barrister Giles Hayes said his client “lives alone and has been working as a delivery driver” and had “always kept in communication with probation,” adding there was “a reasonable prospect of rehabilitation.”
Judge Jeremy Jenkins sentenced Thornton to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years. He was also given a two-year community order, 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement, six months’ trail monitoring, 120 hours unpaid work, and ordered to pay £150 court costs.
