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Wisbech sex offender jailed after police discover new address




A registered sex offender who used an internet alias and failed to tell police he was staying at a new address in Gloucester has been jailed.

Ashley Hammond, 39, of Falklands Drive, Wisbech, was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register after being convicted in 2017 of meeting a girl under the age of 16 following sexual grooming.

He was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order preventing him from having any unsupervised contact with children under 16 and having any device capable of accessing the internet.

Ashley Hammond. (40698630)
Ashley Hammond. (40698630)

Officers from the force’s Public Protection Unit, who are responsible for managing all registered sex offenders in the community, discovered Hammond had failed to notify them of a new address he was staying at after getting into a new relationship.

He had also used an alias name on a games console – something he also should have declared to officers.

Hammond was subsequently arrested for two counts of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register.

In police interview he admitted both offences, telling officers he had “forgot” to notify them of the new address.

He admitted staying at his new girlfriend’s house in Gloucester from late March and for all of April. He also agreed it was his car caught on ANPR travelling to Gloucestershire.

Hammond eventually told officers that he hadn’t notified them of the address as he knew they would inform his new girlfriend of his previous convictions and that he was on the register.

He said the alias name on the games console was “just a mistake” and he had no reason to keep it from police.

Hammond pleaded guilty to the two charges at Cambridge Crown Court on Tuesday (11 August).

He was sentenced the same day, and handed 18 months in prison, after also admitting breaching a suspended sentence for previous charges of the same nature.

Sentencing, Judge David Farrell QC told Hammond he had previously been given “yet another chance” to abide by the law but had ignored this.

He told Hammond he had been unable to comply with notification requirements put in place to protect women from him and his past behaviour, adding that he could have relationships but simply needed to comply with the requirements.

Judge Farrell warned Hammond that he couldn’t do the same again and said he had been “given enough chances” therefore only an immediate prison sentence was appropriate punishment.

Detective Sergeant Paul Stimpson, from the Public Protection Unit, said: “Hammond had clearly not learnt his lesson after being put before the courts several times for breaching various conditions he must adhere to as being a registered sex offender living in our community.

“This case sends a clear message about the consequences of breaching both a suspended sentence and the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register.

“Upon Hammond’s release from prison he will again be under the management of my team who will monitor his day-to-day activity, his electronic devices and pay him unannounced visits.”

Anyone who is concerned someone may have been convicted of a sex offence, and could be posing a risk to someone, can apply for disclosure information through Clare’s Law and Sarah’s Law.

More information on sexual offences and the Sex Offenders Register can be found on the force website.



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