A Great Harwood sex offender has been jailed for breaching a court order by installing ‘cleaning’ apps on his phone that delete usage data. Graham Marshall, who was previously imprisoned in 2020 for distributing indecent images of children and encouraging the commission of a sexual offence against a child, was released from prison in February of this year.

Marshall moved back to Lancashire in May and was monitored by Lancashire Police’s East MOSOVO (Management of Sexual or Violent Offenders) team. During a visit to his home on August 12th, offender managers discovered he had installed three ‘cleaning’ apps – which delete usage data – and an app with a VPN function, all in breach of his sexual harm prevention order.

Marshall was arrested and remanded in custody. At Preston Crown Court on Tuesday, Marshall pleaded guilty to four offences of breaching the sexual harm prevention order and was sentenced to three years and four months imprisonment.

Det Sgt Amanda Whitaker of the East MOSOVO team said: “Our careful monitoring of Marshall has seen a sex offender sent back to prison. Marshall breached the order placed on him by the courts by installing apps on his phone which he was forbidden from doing. “If sex offenders breach the conditions put on them, we will not hesitate to bring them back before the courts.”