A former Co Down car salesman was today jailed for a year for “repeatedly flouting” the terms of a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO).
Andrew George Tinsley (48), of Ballynahinch Road, Hillsborough, pleaded guilty to ten counts of breaching his SOPO by accessing computers in public libraries across Northern Ireland.
He had previously been convicted in June 2021 of possessing voyeurism images and indecent images which had been found on his phone.
Part of the SOPO conditions imposed on him by the court was that he was not to access computers or the internet without the prior approval of his designated risk manager (DRM).
Prosecution counsel David McNeill told Belfast Crown Court that 161 images were found on Tinsley’s phone, “the vast majority of which were taken by the defendant while out of jurisdiction on holiday in Italy”.
He told Judge Philip Gilpin that among the images were 21 movies “depicting indecent images of children”. The remaining 140 images related to adult males.
The court heard that following his conviction, Tinsley breached his SOPO on four further occasions between April and September 2022 and received suspended sentences.
Mr McNeill said that between November 26, 2022, and February 15, 2023, Tinsley further breached his SOPO by visiting libraries in Armagh, Ballynahinch, Banbridge, Belfast, Lisburn, Lurgan, Newry and Portadown to use their computers.
Tinsley claimed to police he had permission from his DRM to access the library computers. When contacted by police, the DRM “adamantly denied this”.
“This is repeated and deliberate flouting of a court order. He has shown a complete disregard for the terms of that order,” said Mr McNeill.
“We say culpability is high but harm is low, as no harm was eventuated. However, when somebody repeatedly and deliberately breaches a SOPO which gives rise to a risk, those breaches require a penalty.”
Defence counsel Taylor Campbell said the breaches of the SOPO could be described as “technical”, as the defendant had been accessing online news websites and was not searching for or downloading indecent images.
He said the original court case related to Tinsley taking “voyeuristic pictures” of adult males and children in toilets “either over the top of a toilet cubicle or underneath the cubicle”.
“It was opportunistic whether they were adults or children and it wasn’t really a paedophile case. He had this compulsion to take these pictures of people either showering or going to the toilet. He wasn’t remotely behaving like a paedophile.”
In relation to accessing the library computers, Mr Campbell contended: “What he did was trivial in the extreme. This man went to a public area, he used his library card and he looked at entirely harmless [news] websites.”
Judge Gilpin said the custody threshold had been passed in the case.
Imposing a 12-month prison sentence, Judge Gilpin told Tinsley: “I am satisfied that your offending was repeated and it was deliberate and it involved a flouting of the court order.”
Tinsley will remain the subject of a SOPO until June 2026.
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