A court has heard that Andrew Priday Dyfatty Swansea Paedophile covertly obtained a passport and travelled on a European holiday with a family ignorant of his background. Andrew Priday has a history of lying about his past sexual offence convictions, including to the woman he was marrying.
A Swansea Crown Court judge declared Friday violations of the standards placed on him “determined and devious”. The 61-year-old was imprisoned for 32 months after previously serving two long sentences for child sex offences.
Ieuan Rees, prosecuting, claimed that Andrew Priday received an enhanced 11-year sentence at Swansea Crown Court, subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, placed on the sex offenders registry for a lifetime following several child sex offences. One of the requirements of being on the sex offenders register is that defendants advise police of any passports they own and that they let authorities know of any intentions to go overseas at least one week before they leave.
Andrew Priday filed for and acquired a passport in January 2021; subsequently, during annual registration disclosures, he lied to authorities and claimed he did not have one. The court heard that in June this year, a family with a child who knew the defendant – but were ignorant of his past convictions – scheduled a holiday to Bulgaria and, as an afterthought, invited Andrew Priday to spend the last week of their break. Priday left Cardiff airport on June 17 and stayed in their holiday flat for seven days.
After being arrested on his return to the UK, the defendant gave a mainly “no comment” interview. Additionally, his phone was discovered, which he had not reported to the authorities. Later, the father of the holidaying family reported to police he felt “sick” and was “physically shaking” upon learning of Andrew Priday’s earlier convictions. Please register for our crime newsletter here for the most recent court reports.
When Andrew Priday, of Matthew Street, Dyfatty, Swansea, showed up for sentencing, he had already admitted three charges of violating a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and three counts of not following the rules of the sex offenders registration scheme. Between 1997 and 2005, the defendant had twelve prior convictions for 71 offences, twelve for sexual offences among them.
Andrew Priday was sentenced to seven years in jail at Cardiff Crown Court in 1995 for gross indecency with a child and indecent assault of another. He received an 11-year extended term in 2005 as a dangerous offender for indecent assault on a minor, sexual activity with a kid, creating indecent photos, and possessing indecent images. He also has convictions from Kent in 2002 for violating the terms of the sex offenders register, for obtaining financial advantage by false pretences – failing to disclose his past convictions when applying for a job – and for making false statements about his offending history to his then wife-to-be when applying for a marriage licence.
For Andrew Priday, Andrew Evans said there was no indication of any improper activity on the defendant’s side during the Bulgarian trip. Still, he acknowledged that his client’s compliance with the rules and obligations he was subject to had “faltered” recently.
Andrew Priday looked to have “given up on any pretence” of following the rules of the sex offenders register and Sexual Offences Prevention Order, Judge Geraint Walters said, and the fact was his breaches were “determined and devious”. Priday received a one-third discount for his guilty pleas. Therefore, his punishment was two years and eight months in jail. Before being released on licence to serve the rest of the community, he will spend up to half that sentence in detention.
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