Published date: 25 January 2016 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter
A SEX offender described as a high risk to women has been released back into the community.
But a judge said the authorities were keeping a close eye on Richard Pugh.
Mold Crown Court was told regular reports were prepared on him for the Home Office because of an earlier hospital order made without limit of time.
Pugh, of no fixed home but previously of Norman Road, Wrexham, admitted a sex assault and two breaches of an earlier Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and he was jailed for 46 weeks.
All three offences occurred early last year.
That sentence meant his immediate release because of the time he had already spent on remand.
Pugh, who has previous convictions for exposure and indecent assault, was made the subject of a new SHPO – to run indefinitely.
Under it he is banned from harassing or intimidating any woman of any age, he must not enter women’s toilets and he is not to approach within five metres of any lone woman in any public car park.
Pugh remains on the police Sex Offenders’ Register.
The judge, Mr Recorder Timothy Petts, warned him that the order was designed to give him boundaries – but if he breached the order then, with his history of offending, he would be returned to court very quickly.
The offences themselves were at the lower end of the scale but had to be seen in the context of a man with a significant sexual history and a high risk of harm and a high risk of re-offending.
One issue which had troubled the court was whether he should be dealt with by a fresh hospital order, he said.
Two consultant psychiatrists had been instructed by the court. One said he should be made the subject of a hospital order and another said he needed further assessment.
Two other psychiatrists commissioned by the defence, including one who had care of him, said he did not meet the criteria.
The judge warned Pugh was still subject to the original hospital order and if his mental health deteriorated, he would be recalled to hospital.
Pugh was originally made the subject of a SHPO in 2005.
Prosecuting barrister Michael Whitty said last February Pugh admitted sexually assaulting a care worker where he was cared for.
She left the staff room during the night shift and was scared when Pugh, who was waiting outside the door, hugged her and lent over and kissed her on the cheek.
The first breach of the order occurred when he was overly familiar with another female staff member. When she wanted to close her car door, he held it open, said he loved her and to drive carefully.
A nurse at another establishment was shocked when she answered the door at her home to find Pugh standing there. He said: “I have come to see how you are.”
She challenged him, asked him why he thought it was appropriate for him to go to her home and told him to return to the unit. He left.
Pugh, 39, had previous convictions for 19 offences including a sexual assault charge in 2005 where a woman awoke to find him on top of her touching her sexually.
He had previous convictions for exposure in 2003 when he asked a woman walking her dog “Can you help me with these?” while he was exposing himself and holding a packet of condoms.
In 2001, he followed a lone woman to her car, and pushed her against the vehicle while he was exposing himself.
In 1996 he exposed himself in a car park to a lone woman.
Defence barrister Mark Connor said regular meetings were held about his mental health and regular reports were prepared on him.
But reports commissioned by the defence showed he did not currently meet the criteria for a hospital order and he suggested an immediate prison sentence which would mean his release from custody.
see-http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/157680/high-risk-predatory-sex-pest-from-wrexham-free-in-community.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment