Paedophile from village near Kettering jailed after court hears he 'can no longer be managed in the community'

The pensioner was sentenced for having 144 indecent images on his computer
He was sentenced at Northampton Crown CourtHe was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court
He was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court

A pensioner from Cransley has been sent to jail after breaching the terms of a sexual harm prevention order designed to monitor his behaviour.

Edward Unsing had 'spiralled' into alcoholism and claimed he had encountered memory problems which meant telling his supervising police officers about a new debit card had 'slipped his mind', a court has heard.

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A probation officer told Northampton Crown Court at a hearing on Thursday (February 18) that Unsing's offender manager said he continued to view images of children and 'his risk could no longer be managed in the community.'

The 68-year-old had previously admitted having 144 illegal images of child sexual abuse on a 'large number' of devices in his Loddington Road home when he appeared in court in February 2019. Forty one of the images were of the most serious category depicting the very worst kind of abuse on young victims. At a hearing at Northampton Crown Court in April, 2019, he was sentenced to a three-year community order compelling him to undertake six months of alcohol treatment, 30 rehab days and a sex offender programme.

He was also placed on the sex offenders' register and given a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

But in April 2020, police officers visited his home after he failed to carry out his annual notification. Then in June last year they returned to find him in possession of a debit card that was not registered with officers. Under the terms of his SHPO he was compelled to tell them of any new bank cards within three days of them arriving.

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He also failed to attend three probation appointments in November and December of last year.

When he was questioned, Unsing said that he 'forgets things a lot' and that informing the police of his new card had 'slipped his mind'.

Unsing was ordered to return to court on Thursday (February 18) to be re-sentenced for his original crimes and for the breaches of the court orders.

His barrister Chantelle Stocks told the court that her client had told her he had alcoholic dementia and had said he was now engaging with probation and had kept a recent appointment. But the court then heard there was no such diagnosis and Unsing had, in fact, missed his most recent probation appointment.

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Ms Stocks added: "The breach report doesn't make for good reading. His engagement with the order has been summarised as superficial compliance.

"Mr Unsing's entrenched alcohol addiction is at the heard of his offending. It's clear that on consumption of large amounts of alcohol his memory is poor."

She said that Unsing had struggled with having to stay at home during lockdown and had had three bereavements of close family members.

Unsing has 12 convictions for 42 offences dating back several decades.

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Her Honour Judge Adrienne Lucking said: "You have an issue with alcohol but you choose to drink and that may or may not affect your memory."

Taking into account the age of the defendant, the fact that he had complied with the majority of the order and the current conditions in custody due to Covid, she sentenced him to a total of seven months in prison. Unsing will have to serve half of his sentence before being released on licence for a further 12 months.