Michael Holliday

Michael Holliday, a 52-year-old registered sex offender from Workington, Cumbria, was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison for failing to comply with his notification requirements under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). Holliday had been convicted in 2022 of sexual communication with a child via the social media platform TikTok, leading to the imposition of the SHPO and sex offender notification requirements for a period of seven years.

As part of these requirements, Holliday was obligated to inform police of any online usernames within three days of creation. He was managed by officers from the Management of Sexual or Violent Offenders team and classified as high risk for reoffending, necessitating regular polygraph tests. On 3 September 2023, during a pre-interview discussion at a polygraph appointment in Cockermouth, Holliday admitted to deleting his internet history, describing it as 'normal pornography', which raised significant concerns among officers. He claimed to have lost his phone on a beach shortly before.

Following his arrest at Cockermouth Police Station, officers seized and searched Holliday's phone, uncovering a YouTube username that had been used on 31 August 2023 but not disclosed to authorities. This breach occurred within five and a half weeks of previous violations of the SHPO, marking the third such incident. Prosecutor Pamela Fee told Workington Magistrates’ Court that Holliday was 'fully aware' of his obligations, emphasising the seriousness given his history.

In defence, Mike Woolaghan argued that Holliday's YouTube use was previously authorised by police and that the undisclosed username was auto-generated during a data migration following YouTube's acquisition by Elon Musk, rather than a new hidden account. Woolaghan highlighted Holliday's unaddressed childhood trauma and suggested ongoing support to address underlying issues, noting that avoidance was not an effective strategy.

Presiding magistrate Mark Gear deemed only a custodial sentence appropriate, stating it was justified by the repeated breaches. Holliday, residing at Moss Bay Road, Workington, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing. In addition to the 24-week jail term, he was ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £154 victim surcharge. The case was reported by News and Star, with details from Cumbria Police.