Locations
Earl Street, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF1
Description
A paedophile who managed to stay out of jail said he would take his own life is he was put behind bars for breaching the sex offender register.
Ricky Johnson was known as Terence Murkin when he was given a suspended sentence last year for trying to groom a 13-year-old online. But he then breached the terms and was brought back before Leeds Crown Court this week.
The court heard that the 63-year-old had threatened suicide if he was jailed, but Judge Simon Batiste, who also dealt with him last year, locked him up. He told him: “In my judgement, you were warned by me that you must complete the requirements of the order. It was made to clear to you [what would happen if you didn’t comply], and I’m going to keep my word in that regard.”
He was handed a 21-month jail sentence, suspended for 24 months in February of last year when he was caught making sexual suggestions to a young girl online. The profile was run by a hunter group trying to catch out predators online.
As part of his sentence, he was also given 130 hours of unpaid work, 30 rehabilitation days, and ordered onto a sex offender programme. He was also put on the sex offender register and given a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
Prosecutor Amber Walker said during routine police checks at his home on Earl Street, Wakefield, following his conviction, they found he had opened a bank account and had not told officers, which put him in breach of the sex offender register.
It was also found that he deleted his internet search history, which he is forbidden to do under the terms of the SHPO. He admitted both breaches this week, having initially denied them.
Mitigating, Leila Taleb said he had initially accepted his wrongdoing during his police interview, but said “acting on legal advice”, then denied it, before finally seeing sense.
Judge Batiste jailed him for 21 months in total, including 12 months activated from his suspended sentence. He said that steps would be taken to ensure his welfare after making the comment about taking his own life.