Registered sex offender faces jail after being found with “thousands” of images of women on his phone

A registered sex offender caught taking 'thousands' of pictures of women at Manchester Pride by plain clothes police officers faces a jail sentence. Andrew Smoggie, 52, Warrington, was seen acting 'suspiciously' around women during a Pride event on Peter Street.

Cops then saw him take a picture of a woman who was unaware and as they confronted him, he told them: “It’s not illegal to take a photograph in a public place.”

After being spoken to by police he was identified as a registered sex offender with an order preventing him from taking pictures of any female not known to him whilst in a public.

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When police checked his phone they found ‘thousands’ of pictures of women taken from behind.

Smoggie earlier pleaded guilty to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). He will be sentenced next month at Manchester Crown Court.

Manchester Magistrates' Court heard that Smoggie was handed a suspended sentence in October 2021 for an offence of upskirting. A condition of that sentence included a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

A SHPO can remain in place for at least five years - or can be imposed by a court indefinitely – and any breach is a criminal offence. Conditions for a SHPO can consist of telling the police what devices they own, who they are in contact with, and – in exceptional cases – limits to where they can and can’t go in the community.

One of the conditions of Smoggie’s SHPO was that he was prohibited from using a mobile phone to take a still or moving image of a woman.

On August 28 this year, at around 1.40pm, plain-clothed officers' attention was drawn to Smoggie who appeared to be taking