Hassan Ashfaq was jailed for two years at Preston Crown Court

Hassan Ashfaq, 26, was jailed for two years at Preston Crown Court having failed to notify police about the change in name of an online account and the opening of a new bank account. He also failed to produce a mobile phone and a PlayStation 4 which had internet access.

He was convicted of the offences at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on May 18.

In 2017, Ashfaq was given a two-year sentence suspended for two years after he arranged to meet a girl under 16 at a park in Blackburn. This sentence also included a sexual harm prevention order and being put on the sex offender’s register for 10 years.

On March 3, 2022, police visited Ashfaq’s house as they had received reports of online activity and wanted to check any devices he had. A request was made and he handed over a Nokia phone he had shown to officers before.

He said he did not use it for the internet but said he did have access to an Instagram account (which he had changed his name on) via a PlayStation 4 in his bedroom. The search history on the PlayStation was examined and there was no evidence of Instagram being used on the device.

Ashfaq then admitted the PlayStation was not his and was borrowing it from a friend, while his own device was with another friend being repaired. Police asked Ashfaq to provide details of the friend who was in possession of the PlayStation, which he did not.

A further search of Ashfaq’s room uncovered another phone with internet access and a Yorkshire Building Society savings book, for which the account had never been registered with police.

There was no evidence the bank account had been used in an inappropriate manner, but Ashfaq accepted he had been going on Instagram and conversing with someone he believed to be 18.

Mitigating, James Heyworth said Ashfaq admitted he had “messed up” and “he’ll also have to accept he has not been as forthright with the police as he should have been.

“He could have made life a lot easier for himself by having his items available or assisting police with tracking them down,” he added.

Mr Heyworth went on to say Ashfaq suffered with learning difficulties and still lived at home with his mother and brother.

Ashfaq, of Carlton Gardens, Blackburn, was sentenced to two years in prison for failure to provide the phone, two years for failing to provide the PlayStation 4, and six months for breaching the notification requirements.

Running concurrently, this gave him a total sentence of two years.

Sentencing, Judge Darren Preston said: “On August 14, 2017, you were convicted of a number of sexual offences involving children and grooming children. A suspended sentence order was imposed on you for which, frankly, you should have felt extremely lucky.

“On March 3 your offender manager visited you at your home address. You admitted you had created an Instagram account which you had never registered and you showed the police officers a PlayStation 4 which you claimed was not yours.

“You were asked where your PlayStation 4 was and you were repeatedly evasive. A phone and an unregistered bank account were also discovered.

“In your pre-sentence report you say you contacted a young girl who turned out to be 16. This is aggravated by the nature of your previous offences.

“I bear in mind you have severe physical and mental difficulties but they do not excuse in any way your behaviour. It was intended to hide what you were doing, the very thing the sexual harm prevention order and notification requirements are there to prevent.

“You demonstrated you are in no position to be rehabilitated and your offending is far too serious for a suspended sentence.”