Jail for Waterlooville paedophile who went to libraries in Portsmouth and Havant to look up child abuse images

‘Dangerous’ Andrew Haire, 42, of Stakes Road in Waterlooville, was fresh from a 20-month jail term when he visited the libraries in Central Library, in Guildhall Square, and in Havant and Waterlooville.

His shocking crimes came to light as he was wearing an electronic tag after he was released from jail and officers noted his trips to libraries.

When offender managers investigated they found out he had been using the service’s internet access between August 31 and October 12 this year.

They arrested him on October 12 at his home and found the library card and ‘writings detailing his fantasies of abusing children’.

In interview he confessed to what he had been doing – and was charged with breaching a sexual harm prevention order. He breached it for not retaining search history records.

The order had been imposed by a court in November last year when he was jailed for 20 months for indecent images offences.

Today at Portsmouth Crown Court he has been jailed for 30 months.

PC Pamela Fisher, from the Eastern Offender Management Team, said: ‘Andrew Haire is a particularly dangerous individual who has clearly shown no sign of willingness to comply with the conditions imposed on him by the courts.

‘Sexual Harm Prevention Orders are put in place to protect the public, and ensure that individuals do not re-offend. Where they choose to disregard them, they are rightly punished and I am pleased that Haire is now back behind bars.

‘Haire admitted what he had been doing, and this was further evidenced by our enquiries and what was recovered from his bedroom.

‘Despite his admissions to police, he had nonetheless attempted to access computers away from his address in public libraries, and we would urge anyone who uses this kind of facility and notices anyone behaving in a suspicious manner to report this to police.

‘We invest significant resources into the protection of the public and the management of sex offenders, and it’s a duty we take very seriously.

‘Officers will often make unannounced visits to offenders where they are subject to an intrusive investigative interview process. This helps us understand an offender’s routine, interests and behaviours so we can closely monitor them and keep the public safe.’

Devious Haire had been using libraries as the 10-year SHPO imposed last year required him to tell police if he was using any device that was internet-enabled.

He admitted breaching the SHPO at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court last month.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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