Joshua Checksfield, a 23-year-old man from Rectory Road in Shelton, Staffordshire, was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court for his fourth breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and failure to comply with sex offender notification requirements. The court heard that Checksfield had a long history of sexual offences against children, beginning in 2020 when he was handed a community order and made subject to an SHPO for engaging in sexual communication with a child and inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
At that time, Checksfield had asked a schoolgirl to send him naked pictures and encouraged her to perform a sex act. He met the girl and kissed her on the lips on two occasions. The community order was later revoked, and in 2022, he was sentenced to 30 months' detention in a young offenders' institution for breaching the SHPO. In the following year, he received a two-year custodial sentence for a second breach of the SHPO and sexual activity with a child. In 2024, he was jailed for another two years for his third set of breaches of the SHPO and notification requirements.
The latest incident occurred when police conducted an unannounced visit to Checksfield's address on 22 August 2024. Officers discovered a mobile phone hidden under his bed, which had not been notified to them within the required three days of acquisition, as stipulated by his notification requirements. Analysis of the phone revealed a WhatsApp profile, profiles on two dating apps, a Facebook account, and a Google account, none of which had been disclosed to the police using aliases.
Checksfield pleaded guilty to breaching the SHPO, failing to comply with notification requirements, and two serious sexual offences. In mitigation, his defence counsel, Stuart Muldoon, stated that Checksfield had come through the care system and faced difficulties, noting that he had joined adult dating sites due to feeling isolated and had no intention of communicating with underage individuals this time. Muldoon added that Checksfield wished to relocate away from Stoke-on-Trent upon release.
Recorder Robert Smith, sentencing Checksfield to 18 months' imprisonment, described him as becoming an 'entrenched sex offender' with problems adhering to authority. The judge remarked, 'This is now the fourth occasion on which you have flagrantly breached court orders. Your previous convictions tell me you are becoming an entrenched sex offender who has problems with authority. I accept you did not have the best start in life.' Smith emphasised the seriousness of the breaches, stating, 'Breaching the SHPO and failing to comply with notification requirements are serious matters. This is your fourth set of matters in a five-year period. You regard the authority of the court with complete disregard. You flagrantly and deliberately breached the SHPO for a fourth time.' Checksfield was placed on the sex offenders' register for seven years, and the phone was ordered to be deprived.
The case was reported by StokeonTrentLive and covered in the Birmingham Mail, highlighting ongoing concerns about repeat offenders and the enforcement of protective orders in the UK justice system.