Featherstone sex offender caught flouting conditions again

FEATHERSTONE SEX OFFENDER CAUGHT FLOUTING CONDITIONS AGAIN

Philip Land, a 57-year-old man from Featherstone, who was previously convicted of child sex offences including attempting to incite a child into sexual activity, has found himself back in court.

The court heard that in August 2022, a public protection officer visited Land’s home and requested to see any devices capable of connecting to the internet.

Land handed over a Samsung phone, after which the officer left.

Six days later, officers returned to his address regarding unrelated matters, and Land was found in his bedroom.

He was then arrested, and four phones were confiscated, including the Samsung phone from before.

Land claimed that one of the phones was old and another was used daily, and he was communicating with people on Snapchat, although no offence resulted from this.

Land admitted to the court that he had been overwhelmed due to bad news and did not hand the phones in, stating, 'I will admit I had some bad news and had taken my partner to the hospital and my head had just gone so I didn't show the phones.

I admit it, it's my family.' The judge, Judge Khokhar, remarked that Land was 'very lucky' with his previous sentence.

Due to breaching his sexual harm prevention order, Land was sentenced to 10 months in prison, to run concurrently with his current sentence.

Land had previously been jailed in 2023 for child sex offences, including trying to incite a child into sexual activity, and was subject to a sexual harm prevention order with strict conditions, including notification requirements.