Mark Jones (Image: South Wales Police)
Last Updated: 2 minutes ago
A 63-year-old man who was already subject to a sexual harm prevention order for possessing indecent images of children has been sent to prison after repeatedly ignoring its terms.
Mark Jones, of Nantyffyllon in Maesteg, was handed 22 months in custody by Recorder Paul Lewis KC at a Cardiff Crown Court hearing held remotely at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. The court heard he had broken the order on eight occasions between April and June this year.
Sentencing
The defence had asked for the term to be suspended, but Recorder Lewis said doing so would be a disservice to the public. He also made clear he did not believe Jones when he denied there was any sexual motive behind the breaches.
Jones must also pay a £187 statutory surcharge within six months of his release from custody.
Recorder Lewis said: “If I could have extended the Sexual Harm Prevention Order I would have done so, but for whatever reason I do not have the power within the remits of the law.”
The visit on April 22
Prosecutor Hartej Saund-Matharu told the court that when an officer arrived on April 22, Jones was “agitated, doing up his jeans and his belt”. Records showed a prohibited search had been made on one of his devices just 24 minutes earlier.
The browsing history revealed a string of pornographic websites reached through VPNs and private browsers. On his phone, porn sites and live video chats were still open, and the VPN was running while the officer was in the room.
The unknown phone
Officers also discovered a handset police had no record of. Jones claimed a “friend” had given it to him. He had been using it without telling anyone, despite the order requiring police to know about every internet-capable device he owned.
Its search history showed he had accessed a Gmail account and had been trying to recover his Facebook account.
Jones was arrested and released on bail – and went on to breach the order three more times.
Why the order was in place
Jones received a suspended sentence in 2020 after being convicted of possessing indecent images of children aged between six and 10. The SHPO imposed alongside it required him to keep his search history, make police aware of every device he had with internet access, and stay off private networks such as VPNs.
The defence
Adam Sharp, for Jones, accepted his client had plainly broken the order but pointed out that none of the seized devices held any evidence of indecent images being accessed.
Mr Sharp said Jones has “struggled with his mental health and is taking antidepressants” and he “has suffered panic attacks during his time in custody.”
He told the court: “His father died when he was young and his mother was diagnosed with dementia. He was her carer until she died in 2018.
“He has no relationship and no living family. He lives an isolated existence, compounded by his 2020 conviction.”
Mr Sharp asked for the sentence to be suspended, noting Jones had already spent 90 days in custody and that these were his first breaches since his conviction six years ago.
