DONNIE HARPER OF GREAT YARMOUTH BREACHES SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS IN MARCH 2019

In March 2019, Donnie Adrian Harper, a convicted sex offender residing in Great Yarmouth, was found to have failed in his duty to report to the police station as required. Harper, now living on Yarmouth Way, had previously informed officers at Great Yarmouth Police Station on December 6 that he no longer had a fixed address. Following his initial registration, he was mandated to attend the station weekly if he became homeless, but he only returned on December 20 to provide a new address.

Harper, aged 44, admitted to breaching the notification requirements of the Sex Offender’s Register when he appeared at Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court on March 6. Prosecutor Stacie Cossey explained, “He told police that he forgot he had to attend every week. He has no previous breaches of the register.”

Harper had initially been required to sign the register after a conviction for indecently exposing himself outside a McDonald's while intoxicated.

Defence solicitor Christopher Bowles commented, “I have known Donnie for all of his adult offending life and he has become a regular client of my firm. There are two Donnie Harpers. One is nice and listens intently to what is being said like today, but the other is a drunken menace who gets himself into all sorts of trouble. In December, he had just been released from prison and his life was in chaos. He was sleeping in a tent on the beach at the time. The next thing he remembers is getting accommodation and going back to the police station to inform them.

"It can be difficult to organise things when you are homeless. In terms of harm caused, I believe it is zero. The offence he was made to sign the register for was an indecent exposure charge, which was a drunken mistake. There has been no recurrence of that, and he has no prior history of such offences. It was a one-off incident."

Harper was fined £50 and ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge, with no court costs awarded.