A SEX offender has been sent back to prison over what he failed to tell the police.
Rafikul Ashrafi was previously made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order – designed to limit his ability to commit further offences of a sexual nature.
Such orders allow specialist management officers to keep tabs on offenders, through obligations such as regular home visits and checks on their devices.
But the 35-year-old breached his order shortly after being released from prison – and he is now back behind bars as a result.
The defendant was sentenced at Crewe Magistrates’ Court recently after admitting three counts of breaching his sexual harm prevention order.
The court heard that this order was imposed at Manchester Crown Court in August last year.
Ashrafi committed the breaches while living in Warrington on July 30 this year.
He failed to notify the police about his possession of internet-enabled devices in the form of an iPhone, a Samsung mobile phone, and a Lenovo Legion computer.
Having such devices and not telling the authorities is perfectly legal for regular members of the public, but illegal for the defendant under the terms of his sexual harm prevention order.
Before sentencing, magistrates took Ashrafi’s guilty plea into account; however, they deemed that the offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified.
They remarked that his situation was aggravated by the fact that he has previous convictions for similar offences, and because he was the subject of licence conditions and a court order at the time.
The offences were also committed ‘so soon’ after his previous release from custody.
As a result, Ashrafi, formerly of Bewsey Street, but now of HMP Altcourse, was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
His sexual harm prevention order will continue to run and, while he was not ordered to pay any court costs, he was told that he must pay a victim surcharge of £187.
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