Police have clarified their role in the management of Carlisle sex offender Darren McGuinness after he was jailed for flouting a court order by dressing as Father Christmas and handing gifts to children from a grotto.
McGuinness, 48, was made subject to the strict terms of an indefinite sexual offences prevention order in 2011 as part of his punishment for downloading indecent photographs of youngsters.
This banned him from having contact with children unless parents or guardians knew of his criminal past; and from taking part in any activity likely to bring him into unsupervised contact with children.
He went on to breach the order in 2015, 2016 and 2020, serving some time in prison.
Carlisle Crown Court heard yesterday that McGuinness had volunteered on the site of St Herbert’s Church, Blackwell Road, through his role in a separate group — the Community Chef Project (CCP); and that in late 2021 he was heavily involved in organising Halloween and Christmas parties which took place in a hall on the church site.
At the first event, McGuinness took charge of the music and participated in party games. At the second, he dressed as Father Christmas and handed out presents to children from a grotto, although it was stressed that children were never left unattended with him. His name and phone number appeared on posters advertising the latter party.
After the offending came to light, he admitted twice flouting the order and was jailed for 16 months by a judge who branded him a persistent breacher and said the responsibility of alerting others to his past convictions was entirely his.
After the hearing, the Rev Alun Jones, vicar of St Herbert’s, apologised to parents for any concern caused, and stated that safeguarding and safe recruitment policies had been reviewed and tightened.
“Nobody at St Herbert’s Church knew anything about it,” he said of McGuinness’s offending history. “At no point did I have any knowledge of previous convictions or any knowledge of restrictions or orders governing their behaviour. If I had, he wouldn’t have been here.”
He said he was first alerted to the past crimes in an anonymous text sent to him on Christmas Eve, 2021. Both parties were CCP events, he said. Police knew he had previous convictions, Mr Jones added, “but did not tell me”.
In response to that observation, a Cumbria police spokesman said: “Our specialist team, who manage individuals with a history of sexual offending, managed Darren McGuiness from October 2021.
“A risk management plan was in place and his role as a volunteer at the Community Chef Project within the church hall was continually assessed.
“We understood his role to be limited to preparing food for adults. There was no suggestion that this role would see McGuinness interact with children in any way.
“Every organisation has a duty to ensure that they make sure their own necessary safeguarding checks, such as DBS checks, are carried out concerning individuals who will interact with children.
“Managing the potential risk posed by registered sex offenders within the community is complex area of business for police forces.
“In Cumbria, we do not tolerate any breach of measures in place to protect the public and prevent offending. We will continue, as we have done so in this case, to do our upmost to ensure an offender is brought to justice when failing to comply with the terms of their order.”
