Description
Keith Stobbart Jailed for Breaching SHPO by Failing to Report New Tablet.
Keith Stobbart, 68, has been sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment for breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after buying a black Samsung tablet without notifying police.
Stobbart, who has seven convictions for 21 offences, is currently at HMP Holme House in Stockton. He was jailed for six years in 2008 for historic sexual offences and has previously breached SHPOs in 2015 and 2022. In 2022 he received a community order after sending a graphic sexual comment to a 14-year-old on TikTok. In 2024 he was jailed for 32 months for accessing indecent images of children and sexual communications with a child.
At Teesside Crown Court, prosecutor Imogen Eastham-Brown said an offender manager visited Stobbart on 6 June and asked him to produce all electronic devices. He handed over the tablet and claimed he had bought it on 1 June “to watch TV” while sleeping rough in his car. Examination of the device revealed search history from 23 and 29 May.
Stobbart told officers he had possessed the tablet for a couple of weeks but “hadn’t had time to do it” and found it “difficult to remember the prohibition.” He said he was “terribly sorry” and claimed he was recovering from cancer. No unlawful material was found on the tablet.
Judge Nathan Adams rejected the explanation, describing the breach as “deliberate” and stating he did not accept it as a reasonable excuse. Stobbart was already in custody on licence when sentenced.