CHRISTOPHER PENRICE'S REPEATED OFFENSES IN CUMBRIA LEAD TO NEW JAIL SENTENCE AND TEN-YEAR ORDER
Christopher Penrice, formerly known as Lloyd James Christopher Ditchburn, has once again found himself behind bars due to his persistent attempts to evade police oversight and continue his illegal online activities.Originally residing in Workington, Cumbria, Penrice’s criminal history is marked by a series of serious offenses related to indecent images of children and breaches of court orders.
In January 2022, he was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court to a prison term after being convicted of downloading indecent images of children.
The court also found him guilty of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) on two separate occasions.
These breaches were linked to his use of specialized software designed to disable police monitoring tools, specifically by putting his phone into “incognito” mode.
This tactic allowed him to download illicit images undetected, demonstrating a clear intent to evade law enforcement scrutiny.
At that time, Penrice was 26 years old and living in Embleton Street, Seaham, under his current name.
His criminal activities and breaches of court orders have continued to escalate, leading to further legal action.
On Thursday, May 16, he appeared before Durham Crown Court to face additional charges, including a new count of breaching the terms of his SHPO and failing to comply with notification requirements as a sex offender.
These charges stemmed from his guilty pleas to two previous breaches at the magistrates' court last month.
Prosecutor Charlie Thompson highlighted the pattern of offending, emphasizing that Penrice’s actions consistently violated court-imposed restrictions.
The original SHPO, which was updated at Carlisle Crown Court during his 2022 sentencing, was set to last for ten years, replacing an earlier order issued in 2020.
Among its provisions, Penrice was explicitly prohibited from using cloud storage services without informing police and was barred from accessing file-sharing platforms and chatrooms unless he disclosed his username and password.
However, during a police monitoring visit at his residence in Seaham on April 17, officers discovered that Penrice had accessed a social networking application downloaded on April 2, without notifying authorities or providing the necessary login details, thus breaching the order.
Further investigation revealed that he was using a file-sharing system and aliases such as Seaham2023 and hannaharris82, which he had failed to disclose to law enforcement.
Additionally, it was found that Penrice had used a drop box storage application during March of this year.
When questioned, he refused to comment but indicated that he was likely to plead guilty when he appeared before magistrates the following day.
His criminal record dates back to 2014, when as a juvenile, he admitted to making and distributing indecent images of children.
His offenses continued into 2020, involving downloading more indecent images and committing outraging public decency through an act of “up-skirting.” Following his 2022 prison sentence, Penrice was placed under post-release monitoring and licensing conditions, which were due to expire this month.
Despite these measures, he engaged in a series of persistent breaches, including the use of aliases and unauthorized access to online platforms, which authorities described as serious violations given his history.
During the hearing, prosecutor Thompson emphasized that Penrice’s recent online misconduct was aggravated by his numerous prior convictions for possessing indecent images of children and his repeated breaches of court orders.
Defense attorney Calum McNicholas acknowledged Penrice’s guilty pleas, noting that the offenses were interconnected and part of the same pattern of behavior.
Judge Jo Kidd addressed Penrice directly, stating, “You are a relatively young man who has managed to develop a pattern of offending, all centered around accessing sexual images of children on the internet.
These offenses date back to 2014, when you were very young, and despite being under intensive surveillance, you continued to offend several years later, including acts of outraging public decency.” She pointed out that Penrice had been given opportunities for intervention, including targeted work and court-imposed restrictions, but he continued to breach these restrictions by using aliases and maintaining access to indecent material.
The judge sentenced him to an additional 24 months in prison, and she also imposed a new ten-year SHPO and notification requirements.
Furthermore, a deprivation order was issued for the mobile phone seized during the April 17 police visit, which was examined and found to contain evidence of ongoing illegal activity.
Judge Kidd warned that any further offenses committed while on license following this latest sentence would likely result in even harsher penalties, including extended imprisonment, underscoring the seriousness of Penrice’s continued violations and the importance of strict supervision to prevent further harm.
