SEASCAL SEX OFFENDER ANDREW SNELL CAUGHT ACCESSING PRIVATE NETWORK IN CUMBRIA

In January 2021, Andrew Snell, a convicted sex offender residing in Seascale, was found to have secretly accessed a private online network despite strict court orders designed to monitor his internet activity. Snell, aged 44 and living at St Bridget’s Court, Calder Bridge, was under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) that mandated the use of monitoring software on all his internet-enabled devices and explicitly prohibited him from accessing virtual private networks (VPNs).

However, authorities became aware that Snell had managed to bypass these restrictions by gaining access to a VPN on a laptop he was using. This breach was particularly concerning given the nature of his previous convictions and the restrictions placed upon him. At Carlisle Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Barker addressed Snell directly, emphasizing the seriousness of his violation. The judge indicated that the appropriate punishment for this breach would be a six-month community order coupled with a curfew from 6 pm to 6 am.

During the court proceedings, Judge Barker explained the purpose of the court orders, stating, “Andrew Snell, you must understand that these court orders are there for two reasons. They are there to protect the wider public from any offending by you and they are there to prevent offending by individuals and so protect them. They perform in a way a rehabilitation purpose, which is to ensure defendants don’t have available to them facilities to commit crime in a way that they have done previously.”

The judge further warned Snell that his breach—specifically his attempt to access American Netflix via the VPN—was a clear violation of the court’s directives. He made it clear that if Snell breaches the order again, the likelihood of imprisonment increases significantly. The court’s decision underscores the importance of compliance with court-imposed restrictions, especially for individuals with a history of sexual offenses.

Snell’s criminal record includes a 2018 case where he was found to have amassed hundreds of indecent images of children on his computer. During that case, he also asked a 14-year-old girl to strip in front of a webcam. The 2018 proceedings revealed that Snell had engaged in multiple predatory behaviors, including attempting to incite a minor to engage in sexual activity.

In the 2018 case, Snell, then 42 and living at Fernbank Lane, Low Seaton, Workington, admitted to four offenses related to indecent images and the attempt to incite a child. Police investigations uncovered nearly 420 obscene images, including nine moving images depicting the rape or torture of children, with 19 classified as the most serious Category A images. Prosecutor Brendan Burke detailed how Snell, under the false name Liam Jones, communicated with a 14-year-old girl via Skype, claiming to be 16 years old. The girl, who was actually 14, was subjected to increasingly sexualized conversations, and Snell asked her to appear naked before her webcam, which she reportedly did.

Judge Julie Clemitson, presiding over the 2018 case, noted that Snell had contacted multiple young girls aged 14 to 17, falsely claiming to be of similar age. She emphasized that each image of abuse represented a real child who had been harmed, and that viewing such images perpetuates further harm and encourages ongoing abuse.

Given Snell’s history and the fact that he had already served the equivalent of an eight-month sentence, the court opted for a lengthy community order rather than immediate imprisonment. The order included 40 days of rehabilitation work, with the warning that failure to cooperate could result in re-sentencing and potential custody. Throughout the proceedings, Snell appeared via video link, reflecting the ongoing judicial process concerning his compliance and the risks posed by his continued offending behavior.