June 2023 Pervert breached SOPO again A man who breached the conditions of a previous sentence by hiding an internet-enabled phone from the police has been given further jail time. Gary Sheridan, 36, was sentenced to 14 months in prison for breaching the terms of his notification requirements and for breaching the terms of a sexual harm prevention order. In 2017, Sheridan was sentenced to more than six years in prison for having sex with a 13-year-old girl, when he was 27. As well, he was sentenced to 42 weeks in prison in 2020 when he pleaded guilty to a sexual harm prevention order by having contact with two boys under the age of 16, as well as four charges of failing to comply with the requirements of the sex offender register. With regard to these proceedings, Sheridan, of Church Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to breaching the terms of his notification requirements and breaching terms of his sexual harm prevention order. Prosecuting at Burnley Crown Court, Stephen Parker said in January 2023 officers visited Sheridan at his home and there were no issues as he handed over a phone which could not access the internet. At the next visit on March 28, he informed them he had lost the phone previously given to the police, who then on May 4, were contacted by a witness to say she had been communicating with Sheridan through Facebook and Snapchat since February. For a while she was unaware of Sheridan’s surname, as the Facebook profile was in the name of ‘Gary Gary’ and the Snapchat account did not display his full name either. When she learned his real name, she searched it online and found out about his previous convictions, leading to her contacting the police. A further search was conducted at Sheridan’s flat and a police dog found a phone hidden away in a communal area of the property. Mr Parker said Sheridan had panicked when he was informed the police were looking for him and he had admitted “it was a stupid thing to do.” Mitigating, James Heyworth said: “This is the second time Sheridan has disobeyed the court’s order and he understands there is a public interest in making it clear that breaching court orders are inevitably going to face sentences of immediate custody. “He had not committed these offences through any inappropriate contact with children. He was trying to engage in a relationship with an adult female and he was worried she might find out (about his past). “He understands he has nobody to blame but himself.” Sentencing, Recorder David Temkin said: “You were convicted of serious sexual offending in March 2017. It was against a 13-year-old girl. I note you struck up a relationship in that case with her through Facebook. “You were made subject of an order which prevents you from possessing any device with access to the internet unless you made the device available on request. You breached those orders in a serious way. “On March 28 this year you misled the officer and told them you had no phone which was internet enabled. “On May 5 you were visited by police and you tried to mislead them again by producing a non-internet enabled phone and telling them you did not have another device. Hidden behind an air vent was a phone you had kept from the police. “It was said you have learnt from your mistakes. You clearly have not. These offences were committed fairly soon after your release from those offences. You have something of a history with disobedience towards court orders.” Recorder Temkin sentenced Sheridan to 10 months for the breach of notification requirements and four months for the breach of the sexual harm prevention order, to run consecutively, giving a total sentence of 14 months. June 2020 A woman who invited a man she had met on a dating site to a barbecue, where he was talking to her children, later discovered he was a convicted child sex offender. Blackburn magistrates heard Gary Thomas Sheridan was going under a different name but the woman became suspicious when she heard him called by his real name. And when she searched it on the internet she discovered his sordid past. Sheridan was sentenced to more than six years in jail in spring 2017 for having sex with a 13-year-old girl when he had been aged 27. Sheridan, 33, of Church Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order by having contact with two boys under the age of 16 and four charges of failing to comply with requirements of the sex offender register. All the offences happened in Accrington between April 16 and May 16. He was jailed for 42 weeks by District Judge Joanne Hirst who said she accepted he had concealed his true identity to avoid repercussions rather that acting in a predatory manner. “I can only imagine the shock and distress of the mother when she found out about your past,” she added. Ruby McKeague, prosecuting, said Sheridan had an account on the Kik application in the name GaryPrice87, an account on fabswingers in the name Gary P, on snapchat in the name Gary Price sesasider 1987 and used the name Venom on a live streaming app called Liveme. None of the names or accounts had been registered with the police as he was required to do under the terms of the sex offender register. He met the mother of the two children through one of the sites and she invited him to a barbecue. He spoke to her two sons who were under 16 but their 20-year-old brother was with them at all times. March 2017 Girl’s ticklist snares child abuse pervert A man who had sex with a 13-year-old girl was caught out when her horrified mum found a ticklist of the child’s past sexual history, with ages and ticks next to them. Gary Sheridan, 30, of Powell Avenue, Marton, admitted sexual activity with a child between January 12 and February 21, 2015. In a victim statement the heartbroken mum said she felt she had “lost her little girl” and that the family felt guilt at what had happened. The girl had only just turned 13. Sentencing him to six years and three months, Judge Stuart Baker said: “She was a young adolescent girl and you were a mature adult more than twice her age. Although she may have been willing, she cannot in anyway be regarded as having the same level of maturity. You took advantage of her immaturity.” Prosecuting, Frances McEntee said: “The defendant at the time was 27 and it is clear from the background that the two parties knew of each other but did not know each other well. “ The matters came to the attention of police following concerns raised by the girl’s sister who received a message she was engaged in a sexual relationship with another person and that information, together with concerns about her behaviour at the time, had caused her mother to take a significant step of taking away her phone and iPad and checking the record of calls and documents on those equipment. “ Her mother recovered a list with seven names on it and the defendant appeared at number 5. “ Her mother was particularly concerned that ages ranged from 14 to 27 – the defendant was the eldest on the list.” Police launched a probe in which they examined the girl’s social media profiles and messages and found a conversation in which he asks her to come for a drive, followed by lurid sexual chat. He drove her to a remote country lane where the offences happened. The court heard after their encounter the schoolgirl had contacted the man’s partner, asked her if she knew what had happened, and then learned his partner was pregnant. Sheridan also admitted a string of fraud and driving offences, and assaulting two PCs. He is barred from working with vulnerable people and was given a six year driving ban.