Two men who failed to disclose information to police as part of their sentences for sexual crimes have been sent back to prison and fined respectively.
Matthew John Mauger (39) had pleaded guilty to the offence after failing to notify police on 23 December 2023 of various personal details – an annual requirement as part of a seven-year notification order for sexual offences uncovered in 2020.
He had been sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Royal Court in 2021 for nine counts of possessing indecent images of children including 254 Category A images, 107 from Category B and 4,296 from Category C over a period of 11 years.
Judge Gary Perry said there has been a “mini explosion” of people appearing in court after breaching notification orders recently, as he sentenced Mauger to two months in prison for the breach.
Mauger was arrested in January after failing to present at the police station to hand over his details. He told officers he had simply forgotten.
Advocate Alan Merrien, defending, said his client had frankly explained the discrepancy and it wasn’t part of wider evasion as he had been complying with the conditions and attending probation meetings.
He had been experiencing stress at the time which caused him to forget, he added.
Judge Perry rejected that, saying Mauger hadn’t taken his orders seriously enough and could’ve easily set a reminder on his mobile phone.
The failure was aggravated by the fact he had been convicted of possessing child abuse images, and notification orders existed for people like him, Judge Perry said.
Pictured: The sentences were handed down in the Magistrate's Court this week.
Later in the morning the Magistrate’s Court heard the case of Stefan Mark Terpstra (27) who was found to have breached his notification order twice by leaving the island for Manchester without telling Guernsey Police.
Those requirements had been levied due to sexual assaults committed in November 2022.
Guernsey Police realised he was in Manchester in December 2023. They called him to resolve the breach on 9 January, but he said he had again travelled to Manchester on a one-way ticket.
Greater Manchester Police verified his whereabouts, and he was arrested when he returned to Guernsey on 29 January.
He told local officers he had forgotten to notify them as he was distracted with his upcoming wedding in the UK, and that it wasn’t serious as he was not assessed as being at high risk of reoffending.
His Advocate, Amy Davies, said he had moved to Manchester to live with his fiancé and start a new life, but did return to the island to address the issue. He said he was “extremely sorry” and was “anxious” to return to his heavily pregnant partner.
A letter Terpstra wrote to the court was chastised by Judge Perry for being selfish and revealing that the notification requirements were “minor priorities” compared to buying a suit and organising his wedding.
Judge Perry considered prison time but said it would be better for Terpstra to stay far away from the island.
He imposed a two-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a £600 fine.
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