A paedophile who previously attempted to have sexual communications with a child breached a court order after using his neighbour's phone to access Facebook. His phone had been seized by probation at the time of the offence.
Philllip Ethersee, 46, of Bridgend, was visited by his offender manager at his home on January 17 as part of a regular appointment to monitor his use of electronic items. The defendant was in possession of a mobile which the manager was unaware of and decided to seize it for investigation.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard Ethersee spoke to a neighbour later that day and told him his phone had been seized by police. The neighbour offered to lend him their phone to access Facebook Messenger. The defendant then used it to contact an adult woman, but his use of the phone constituted a breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
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He was arrested after complaints were raised by other neighbours and Ethersee, of Plumley Close, North Cornelly, pleaded guilty to breaching a SHPO. The court heard the defendant was made subject to the order in 2021 after he was convicted of attempted to engage in sexual communications with a child, for which he received a sentence of 16 months imprisonment suspended for 24 months. His latest offence put him in breach of that sentence.
In mitigation, the court heard the defendant had four officers since 2021 and was at risk of losing his accommodation if he was sent to prison. The court heard he suffered from facial injuries and had problems with his sight.
Judge Niclas Parry partly activated the suspended sentence and resentenced Ethersee to serve 12 months imprisonment. He will serve half the sentence in custody before he is released on licence.
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