Preston pervert borrowed relative's laptop and installed software, in breach of court order

Darren Cuddy, 54, of River Parade, Preston, admitted using a Toshiba laptop that had peer to peer software installed - capable of downloading and sharing images - in breach of a 10 year sexual harm prevention order made by Manchester Crown Court in February 2017.

Preston Crown Court heard Cuddy, who has two convictions for 12 offences, sent relatives a Whatsapp message in June 2018 asking if anyone had a "spare laptop he could borrow".

A female relative agreed to loan him her computer and he kept it until June 23, telling her he had ‘cleaned up the laptop, upgraded Utorrent to Utorrent pro and had also downloaded some Disney films’ - none of which she had asked him to do.

A year later he told the family Whatsapp group he had been interviewed by the police about possible breaches of his SHPO.

His relative had since disposed of her computer and was told by Cuddy it didn’t relate to her device, but was "probably better if she didn’t mention it."

In December 2018, police conducted a home visit to check up on him and seized a Dell laptop.

The court heard although there was no peer to peer software on the computer at the time it was seized, records demonstrated software had been installed in September 2018 and it was accessed and run from a removable drive several times.

Prosecuting, David Traynor said: "The prosecution make the point that using an external device to operate Utorrent is likely to be a deliberate act to make it less likely the police will become aware of the activity."

In an interview Cuddy said other people used his computer to access the internet, meaning police had to interview other members of his family to rebut it.

At a second interview he admitted borrowing his relative's computer and downloading utorrent onto it, saying he "made a number of improvements on it as a thank you for the loan".

Mr Traynor added: "The prosecution suggest that the overall effect of the two breaches should be looked at together. It is submitted that together they amount to a very serious or persistent breach."

Judge Simon Newell suspended his 30 week jail sentence for two years.