Locations
Denbighshire, Wales, LL16
Description
A sex offender was caught on camera peering through windows in the early hours of the morning. His actions were described as "unsettling" by a judge.
Brandon Hughes, of no fixed abode, appeared before Mold Crown Court having breached a sexual harm prevention order that came into force after he was caught performing sexual acts upon himself whilst looking through the window of a home in Rhyl, said prosecutor Sarah Badwary.
She told the court how the ban is supposed to prevent Hughes from loitering outside residential properties without good reason or entering the boundaries of homes without express permission. Despite this, the 23-year-old went out into Denbigh on May 2 this year and ignored those conditions, the court heard.
It was said that, in the early hours of the morning, he was spotted wearing all-black clothing - including a scarf covering his face and a rucksack - by a police officer in the Denbigh area. He was later caught on CCTV approaching properties on Post Office Lane and lingering outside windows.
The judge, Rhys Rowlands, said that "luckily" for Hughes nobody caught him in person. He said that, nonetheless, it remained "incredibly discomforting" for people to find out at a later stage that someone had been lurking outside their home.
Defending, Sarah Yates, told the court how her client suffers with learning difficulties as well as alcohol and drug misuse which "causes him to act in a rather odd manner". She told the court how Hughes intends to move away from the area with hopes of getting onto a university course so that he may "build a better life for himself".
Judge Rowlands told Hughes - who has breached his court order on four different occasions - that the contents of his backpack, which were not disclosed in open court, added to the "unsettling" display of behaviour. He added that: "The people of Denbigh are owed a break from your totally depraved behaviour."
He jailed the 23-year-old for two years overall for the breaches. Hughes was also ordered to pay out £156 towards a victim surcharge.