Northampton man jailed for breaching Sexual Harm Prevention Order
Shields was sentenced to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay a £187 victim surcharge
Last updated 18th Jul 2025
A 43-year-old man from Northampton has been jailed for 20 months after admitting to breaching the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) designed to protect the public.
Liam Paul Shields, of Park Avenue North, was issued with the indefinite SHPO in March 2012, following a conviction under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 at Northampton Crown Court.
The order imposed strict conditions, including a ban on using internet-enabled devices without authorisation, a requirement that all devices retain browser history, and that all devices be made available for police inspection.
However, during a routine visit on 28 January 2025, officers from Northamptonshire Police’s MOSOVO team — which monitors registered sexual and violent offenders — discovered Shields had deleted both his emails and internet browsing history for the entire month of December.
Shields was arrested on suspicion of breaching his SHPO. During a formal police interview, he admitted deleting the emails but claimed he was unaware that doing so constituted an offence.
He pleaded guilty the following day (29 January) at Northampton Magistrates’ Court to one count of breaching his SHPO. The case was then referred to the Crown Court for sentencing, and he was remanded in custody.
On 20 June, at Northampton Crown Court, Shields was sentenced to 20 months in prison and ordered to pay a £187 victim surcharge upon release.
Investigating officer PC Carl Gardner, of MOSOVO, said: “Liam Shields rightly has very strict notification requirements he is expected to abide by, which were put in place to ultimately protect the public.
“It is our duty to protect the most vulnerable people in our society from people like Shields. We take the management of sex offenders extremely seriously and invest significant time and resources into doing everything we can to keep the public safe.
“We take an absolute zero-tolerance approach to situations like this. If a breach is identified, there are no second chances, as I hope this case demonstrates.”