Craig Gary Woolley

A convicted sex offender from Boston, Lincolnshire, has been sentenced to over two years in prison for multiple breaches of court orders designed to protect children from harm. Craig Gary Woolley, aged 40, appeared before Derby Crown Court on 1 September 2023, where he received a total sentence of 28 months' imprisonment for four offences committed between February 2020 and May 2021.

The offences, which took place at various locations including Chesterfield, involved serious violations of a sexual harm prevention order imposed on Woolley in 2014 and failures to adhere to the notification requirements of the sex offenders register. According to court proceedings reported by the Derbyshire Times, Woolley first breached the order on 19 October 2020 by having unsupervised contact with young girls, an action explicitly prohibited under the terms of the 2014 order. This breach underscored the ongoing risk posed by Woolley despite prior convictions for sexual offences.

• On 25 April 2021, Woolley again violated the order by engaging in unsupervised contact with a girl under the age of 18 at Crystal Peaks retail park in Sheffield.
• On 2 May 2021, he breached notification requirements by residing with a child at Waterside Leisure Park in Skegness without informing police within the mandatory three-day period following his trip to the leisure park.
• Earlier, on 17 February 2020, Woolley stayed for more than 12 hours at an address in Chesterfield where children were present, failing to notify authorities as required.

Derby Crown Court imposed sentences for each of the four charges, totalling five years and eight months, but these were ordered to run concurrently, resulting in an effective custodial term of two years and two months. The breaches highlight the challenges in monitoring sex offenders post-conviction and the importance of compliance with preventive measures. Derbyshire Police were involved in the investigation, given the offences' connections to Chesterfield and surrounding areas. No further details on Woolley's original 2014 conviction were provided in the court summary, but the prevention order indicates prior sexual harm offences. This case serves as a reminder of the legal safeguards in place to mitigate risks from registered sex offenders in the community.