DAVID CHADWICK (JACK HALL) SENTENCED IN PORTSMOUTH FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES AND ORDER BREACHES
Jack Hall, whose real name is David Chadwick, managed to befriend a girl's family without their knowledge of his extensive and alarming criminal history spanning over 30 years.A convicted sex offender has been sentenced to prison for breaching a sexual offences prevention order after he boasted about manipulating a family by saying he 'played a family like a game of chess.' The 62-year-old, from Gosport, Hampshire, targeted a mother and her six-year-old daughter, deceiving her for several months.
Portsmouth Crown Court was told that Chadwick, under the alias Jack Hall, purchased a book and sweets for the girl as he integrated himself into their lives.
At one point, he took the girl alone to a shop and engaged in inappropriate behaviour, including playing roughly with her as she rolled across his chest on the ground in a field.
He also disappeared into nearby bushes for five to ten minutes during this encounter.
Despite his growing closeness to the family, the mother was completely unaware that Chadwick was a convicted sex offender with a disturbing criminal record, which includes offences in the UK and abroad, dating back decades.
He has been imprisoned multiple times in Britain and the Netherlands and is suspected of abusing a child in New Zealand.
He even prompted an international manhunt while evading law enforcement.
Chadwick reoffended shortly after his release from a seven-year prison sentence in January of this year, despite a sexual harm prevention order that prohibited him from having unsupervised contact with children.
During the trial, Chadwick described the girl as a 'ray of sunshine' and appeared to grin in the dock when he learned that school pupils would observe his court hearing.
He also boasted about his manipulation tactics, saying, 'I likened it to a game of chess.
I'm not particularly going out of my way to court a friendship with the couple.
I enjoyed their company.
I'm very saddened by the way this has turned out.' Jurors deliberated for just two hours and 27 minutes before convicting Chadwick of breaching the sexual harm prevention order, which he denied.
He was subsequently sentenced to four years and six months in prison.
Prosecutor Sally Mertens stated that Chadwick's methods involved befriending the children of families he targeted.
Judge William Ashworth addressed the court, saying, 'The natural boundaries of a child had been eroded, and her parents had been eroded, by you in a very short space of time.
With your history and having seen you give evidence, I am in no doubt that your intention was to break down the barriers between you and the girl and her family so you could sexually abuse her.' The girl's mother, speaking after Chadwick’s conviction, likened his tactics to a game of chess, saying, 'In chess, you play eight or nine moves in front.
It’s all about attack, and he’s the leader going to attack his goal.
We were pawns in his game.' She expressed relief that Chadwick received a 'strong sentence' but voiced concern about his potential early release, saying, 'In reality, he is going to be out in half, in two years, that’s what worries me.' While there is no indication that Chadwick physically abused the girl, he was required to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.
His criminal history began with his first conviction in 1985, and he has multiple convictions, including for indecent assault—such as breaking into a boarding school in 1991 to attack three boys, indecent assault on a boy under 14, and gross indecency involving another teenage boy under 14 in 2013.
Chadwick also sparked a major manhunt in February 2016 after breaching conditions related to his prison release, and authorities have previously alerted Irish police to intelligence suggesting he planned to travel there.
