Daniel Lafferty

Daniel Lafferty, a 61-year-old resident of Ainslie Street in Barrow, was sentenced at South Cumbria Magistrates' Court for deliberately breaching the notification requirements of his status as a registered sex offender. The court heard that Lafferty had been made the subject of a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in May 2017 following sex-related offending, which also placed him on the sex offenders register with annual reconfirmation obligations.

Prosecutor Lee Dacre outlined the details of the breach during the hearing. Lafferty was released from prison in October 2017 and initially registered his personal details with his offender manager at the police station. One key requirement was to reconfirm these details every year. He complied on 20 October 2024 but failed to do so by the due date of 20 October 2023. His offender manager attempted to remind him on 9 October 2023 and followed up with a letter on 17 October 2023 after receiving no response. Despite this, checks on the police management system on 17 November 2023 confirmed that Lafferty had still not completed the annual check.

When questioned by police, Lafferty reportedly stated, 'I’m still under that am I?' Later, on 17 November, he admitted to his offender manager, 'I know I should have come in. It is just the drink, you know?' indicating that alcohol consumption contributed to his non-compliance. Lafferty pleaded guilty to the offences of failing to comply with sex offender register requirements and failing to surrender to police or court bail at an appointed time.

In mitigation, defence advocate Mike Graham described the breaches as 'inexplicable and unnecessary', emphasising that alcohol had been a prominent factor in Lafferty's lapse. Graham noted there was no suggestion of Lafferty engaging in similar offences since his 2017 sentence or attempting to hide information; it was purely an administrative failure that could have been resolved in minutes. He highlighted that Lafferty would have been eligible to come off the register in October 2027 had he complied, and suggested unpaid work could provide structure to help him restart his career as a plasterer.

Magistrates acknowledged the deliberate nature of the breach and imposed a 12-month community order requiring 200 hours of unpaid work. Lafferty was also ordered to pay £85 in mandatory court costs and a £114 victim surcharge. The case was reported by Alec Whitaker, Court Reporter for News and Star, based on proceedings at South Cumbria Magistrates' Court on 11 February 2024.