Sex offender avoids jail after breaching court order

A man charged with breaching the terms of his sexual offences prevention order has been sentenced to two years on probation.

Richard McFarland, 53, whose address was given as a hostel on Lawrence Hill, appeared in court charged with breaching the terms of his Sexual Offences Protection Order (SOPO) and possession of Class B drug Cannabis on January 31, 2021.

He is further charged with breaching his SOPO on February 3 for possession of a mobile phone.

The court heard that his bail address at Lawrence Hill has since been withdrawn by the owner.

McFarland was jailed in 2006 for the false imprisonment of a young boy in a toilet cubicle in a restaurant and made subject to the notification requirements of a SOPO – a measure put in place to manage ‘significant concerns’.

Derry Magistrate’s Court was told that McFarland has breached his SOPO on 20 occasions.

Under the terms of that order, amongst other conditions, McFarland is banned from being in the company of anyone under 18-years-old and from owning a mobile phone without the approval of his Designated Risk Manager.

Defence barrister Sean Doherty said that a pre-sentence probation report (PSR) which had been ordered by the court was not available ‘for reasons not entirely clear’.

Previous PSRs were handed to the presiding judge.

Outlining details of the case, a Public Prosecution Service (PPS) representative said that during a bail check on February 3 police located a mobile phone under a pillow on McFarland’s bed.

The defendant said he had approval to use the phone but police discovered he didn’t have permission and it was not an approved device.

While in custody police also found two mobile phone top-up cards and he could not explain why he had them.

SOPO breaches from January 31 were also discovered during a bail check when police officers noticed the defendant’s speech was slurred and he was unsteady on his feet.

Police found that he had been drinking on the Friday and smoking cannabis on Friday and Saturday.

Consuming alcohol amounted to a breach of his SOPO and he was charged for possession of cannabis.

Mr Doherty said his client received a five months prison sentence in November which was confirmed after an appeal last week.

He added that McFarland pleaded guilty to the latest charges at the first opportunity.

After losing his bail address, Mr Doherty said, the 53-year-old is in a ‘difficult position once more’ adding that homelessness is an issue he’s dealt with most of his adult life.

The court was told that McFarland grew up in the care system and was subjected to an ‘extremely adverse’ experience in that system.

Defence counsel said the defendant is socially isolated and stuck in a cycle where he’s in and out of prison.

A Consultant Psychologist found that he has an underlying personality disorder after the childhood experience as well as alcohol dependency.

Mr Doherty said there has been ‘no offending of any sort involving children’ since the offence of false imprisonment but accepted there have been numerous breaches of the SOPO.

The defence barrister said a lot of agencies are conducting their business over the phone at present and his client had borrowed a mobile phone from another individual at the Lawrence Hill hostel.

He added that there is ‘no suggestion it was used for any purposes’.

Mr Doherty suggested that McFarland could be spared prison and given an opportunity to ‘break the cycle’ and work with probation services to address his issues.

District Judge Laura Ievers said she had a chance to read over McFarland’s personal circumstances and hear the defence submissions.

She noted 20 previous breaches of the SOPO order which offending is ‘restricted to’.

The judge added that the ‘significance’ of breaching such orders ‘can’t be underestimated’.

“You have flagrantly breached orders time and again,” Judge Ievers said.

On ‘practically every occasion’ breaches have been dealt with by way of a prison sentence, the court heard.

Judge Ievers also ‘noted a tone of pessimism’ in the probation report about whether supervisory support was ‘serving any purpose’.

The judge said she was ‘prepared to take a chance’ with McFarland in the ‘hope and expectation that you can harness this opportunity and work with the authorities to break the cycle’.

She added that it shouldn’t be seen as the ‘soft option’ because if the defendant doesn’t comply he could be brought back before the court and can be re-sentenced.

Judge Ievers sentenced the defendant to two years on probation and ordered him to engage fully with any programmes recommended and to continue working with his Designated Risk Manager.