ALUN FRIEND, HULL SERIAL SEX OFFENDER, JAILED AFTER BREACHING CONDITIONS
Alun Friend, a 59-year-old serial sex offender from Hull with a history of obsessively engaging in online chats with teenage girls, has been sentenced to prison after blatantly ignoring previous suspended sentences.Friend, who has been married three times, admitted to two offences of attempting to breach a sexual harm prevention order between May 10 and 12.
Hull Crown Court was told that Friend has an 'addiction to these chat lines' and an 'inherent weakness' for illicit internet encounters.
Friend bought a laptop shortly after his release from custody, using it to initiate conversations with young girls online, despite the fact that he is a registered sex offender.
The court heard that he was previously given an eight-month suspended prison sentence in 2016 at Grimsby Crown Court for trying to meet a girl under age 16 following sexual grooming.
On that occasion, he was also subjected to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and required to register indefinitely.
In July 2020, Friend received a six-month suspended sentence for breaching the orders.
Most recently, at Teesside Crown Court in April last year, he was handed a two-year suspended sentence and a seven-year sexual harm prevention order after attempting to meet a child under 16.
Despite these penalties, and his release from custody, Friend had no family support and purchased a laptop within days.
His latest offences involved communication with two fake teenage girls, aged 13, who were actually undercover police officers.
The conversations became sexual, with Friend expressing a desire to meet the girls.
Emma Hughes, prosecuting, explained, 'He accepted that some of the conversations were sexual and he did know the potential consequences of speaking to these girls.
He said that his need for chats outweighed the risks.' Steven Garth, defending, noted that Friend had not previously been jailed and was given several suspended sentences, but he had recently breached one made just weeks before these offences.
He said, 'It's difficult to pinpoint the exact motivation for these offences.
It appears there is clearly some sort of inherent weakness in him.
His need to chat outweighed the risks he was taking in making these communications.' Garth suggested reasons such as loneliness, sexual frustration, a lack of support network, and an overwhelming desire to engage in online chats were behind his actions.
Friend, unemployed at the time, had been in custody for approximately seven to eight months.
He had previously been living with his third wife, but they separated, and divorce proceedings were underway.
He also has a 19-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, whom he does not see.
Judge Peter Kelson QC stated that Friend had been given numerous chances—including the suspended sentences in 2016—but had failed to comply.
As a result, the two-year suspended sentence was activated, along with an additional one-year sentence for the recent offences, totaling a three-year prison term.
