Convicted sex offender Jonathan Duffy tells Oxford judge of impossible job hunt

Jonathan Duffy, 41, swore that there was ‘nothing untoward’ on the Alcatel smartphone, which he threw out the bathroom window in a panic when police knocked at his door in December.

A court order imposed in 2013 after he was jailed for child sex offences banned him from having internet-enabled devices that hadn’t been fitted with police monitoring software.

In a last ditch plea to the judge this week, Duffy, who appeared at Oxford Crown Court via video link from HMP Bullingdon, said he’d asked his job centre work coach for the phone so it would be easier for companies to whom he’d applied for work to contact him.

“I have met an amazing woman who despite myself and despite my history actually wants to marry me and give me a life that I couldn’t possibly dream of,” he told the judge.

“But I need work.

Oxford Crown Court Picture: ED NIX

“I wanted the phone because I figured the rubbish brick Nokia [phone] I had was the problem and were I to have the smartphone [potential employers] would be able to contact me and I could get a job.

“I have awful reception at my flat. I had the phone and I’m still getting the same issue. Then I’m like ‘s***, I’ve got the phone, had it, it’s still not working’.

“I was going to [tell the police], your honour, I swear. I was going to tell them.”

He added: “It’s one thing after another. I just forgot and when the police knocked at my door, I panicked. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but I swear to you there is nothing on that phone that is untoward. I guarantee.”

Detailing his struggles to find work, Duffy said he had always been upfront with potential employers about the fact he had a criminal record. Doors were shut in his face when they learned about his past.

“It’s so hard to get a footing in life. It’s just been really difficult, your honour. But it’s my fault.”

Sentencing him to 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, Judge Ian Pringle QC was visibly moved by Duffy’s plea.

“That is very powerful stuff, Mr Duffy. I will take everything into account,” he said.

“It’s one of the concerns I have had all the time, virtually, I have been practising law; the inability of us as a society to reintegrate people who have offended into society and get them work. It is a deep concern of mine.

“There are firms who will employ people and make a policy of employing people who have convictions. Timpson’s is probably one of the most famous ones. I suggest you concentrate your efforts on the companies that do so.”

Judge Ian Pringle QC

Earlier, prosecutor Christopher Pembridge said Duffy had asked a temporary job centre work coach in November 2021 if he could be provided with a smartphone. The officer, who was unaware of the sexual harm prevention order limiting his access to internet devices, agreed to the request.

When Duffy’s usual work coach returned from a period of leave in December he realised that the phone should not have been given and contacted Thames Valley Police.

Arrested at his flat, Duffy admitted having the phone but initially said he’d left it in his girlfriend’s car. He confessed to having thrown it out the bathroom window in a panic when he was told that his girlfriend had been held at the police station and quizzed.

By the time the phone was recovered from outside the window it was waterlogged and so badly cracked from its tumble that no data could be recovered from the device.

Duffy, of Walton Street, Jericho, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to breaching his sexual harm prevention order. His barrister, Kellie Enever, described the breach as a ‘blip’.