THE SENTENCING of a convicted paedophile from Flintshire has been adjourned in order to 'obtain a neurological report'.

Matthew Hatfield, of Ffordd Ogwen in Bryn-y-Baal, appeared before Mold Crown Court on Thursday, November 7.

The 46-year-old previously pleaded guilty, at the magistrates court on August 29, to possessing a prohibited image of a child and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). 

Anna Price, prosecuting, said the offences took place between August 2021 and March 2023.

Hatfield had been made the subject of a SHPO on January 23, 2019, with the order prohibiting him from deleting internet history and ordering him to reserve his internet history.

On March 16, 2023, PC Rhian Jones visited the defendant's home for a routine visit. He had called the police from a mobile phone, despite them having no record of him having a device of the sort.

Hatfield denied having any internet-enabled devices and PC Jones asked him to bring the phone to her.

He then claimed it was an old phone and said that he 'couldn't remember where he'd put it'.

He later admitted to having bought it in Mold a few weeks earlier and when PC Jones browsed the device, she believed that its internet history 'caused concern'.

The phone was seized and its contents were downloaded and searched by North Wales Police.

They found that it contained 186 'still prohibited images', including ones of children aged between 5 and 14 years old engaging in sexual activity. 

Other files found were indicative of sexual images of children and there were six 'device cleaner apps' also installed, the prosecution said.

He was interviewed soon after and told the police that he 'didn't believe he had breached the rules' of his SHPO and 'didn't remember downloading the pictures of the apps' to the device.

Ms Price explained that Hatfield already had three convictions for similar offences.

In 2016, he was convicted of making and possessing indecent photos of children, in 2018 he breached a SHPO and possessed indecent photos of children and in 2020 he breached another SHPO.

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Trevor Parry-Jones, defending, said that Hatfield was an 'extremely troubled' individual, who has 'considerable difficulty with both his mental health and physical issues'.

He added that the defendant has 'low IQ, dyslexia, Motor Neurone Disease and Aspergers' and is 'a man whose life revolves around his bedroom and his mobile phone' as he is house bound.

However, he added that Hatfield 'understands there is something wrong and he shouldn't be doing what he is doing'.

Mr Parry-Jones pleaded with Judge Niclas Parry to adjourn the case for the time being to wait for a neurological report to be obtained, for more details of the issues faced by Hatfield to be considered.

Judge Parry agreed to do so but warned that Hatfield will face a 12-month immediate jail sentence 'unless there is a real alternative'.

He will next appear before the court on Thursday, January 9, 2025.