A former West Cumbrian councillor is starting another prison sentence for multiple breaches of a court order he was given — along with a jail term — for sexual online chats with who he thought was a child.
A judge who sentenced William Kirkbride in 2022 said the former member of Copeland Council had acted as a predatory paedophile when communicating with what he thought was a 14-year-old boy.
Kirkbride’s initial exchanges on the Grindr app — with what was actually an adult decoy — had quickly turned sexual.
Kirkbride stated he was in need of some fun.
And when the boy gave their age and asked whether he was too young, Kirkbride responded by saying: “The law is clear on that but who follows the law these days?”
Kirkbride was arrested after arranging to meet the boy at a train station and received a 28-month jail term after admitting a charge of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
As part of the punishment, Kirkbride was made subject to the strict conditions of a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements.
Both gave him a legal obligation to keep police up to date with personal information and possession of online devices for 10 years.
In January 2024, he was back in court and received a night time curfew for breaching the notification requirements by failing to tell police he had used the dating app Grindr.
Today, Kirkbride, now aged 61, was handed an immediate 12-month jail term for more offending.
Carlisle Crown Court heard he admitted five breaches of the notification requirements — by failing to notify police of an email address; along with three separate online usernames, including a Facebook alias, Alex Walsh; and a bank account and card.
Kirkbride further admitted three order breaches by failing to declare a Samsung mobile phone, laptop and internet-enabled dongle streaming device.
It was on February 10 this year that police received information from Whitehaven Town Council regarding a Freedom of Information Act request from that undisclosed email address.
A first email was undersigned Alex Walsh and a second signed Bill Kirkbride.
Prosecutor Gerard Birch said: “The council understood Mr Kirkbride to be subject to notification requirements and reported the incident.”
Police uncovered the breaches and later seized the devices from Kirkbride’s home.
He revealed his brother had given him the mobile phone to make the Freedom of Information Act request.
“He added that he had not wanted to notify the police of any devices or names because he did not want them to be seized for a long time, leaving him unable to access the internet,” said Mr Birch.
Defence lawyer John Crawford, mitigating, said there was no evidence to suggest Kirkbride, of Queen Street, Whitehaven, had communicated online with anyone using the devices.
Mr Crawford spoke of Kirkbride suffering from anxiety and depression, and of needing a support network in place when released into the community to avoid further isolation.
“He is realistic about the type of sentence he is going to be receiving today in light of this offending,” added the lawyer.
Jailing Kirkbride, Judge Michael Fanning noted the defendant had been remarkably frank when making admissions about his most recent wrongdoing.
“You accept you have got these device and these aliases precisely to prevent you from being monitored,” said the judge.
