A paedophile secretly acquired a passport and used it to go on holiday to Bulgaria with an unsuspecting family who knew nothing of his previous convictions.
Andrew Priday has 71 previous offences and was added to the sex offenders register for life – which requires him to tell police of any passports he possesses as well as plans to travel abroad at least a week before departure.
The shameless criminal applied for and obtained a passport in January 2021 but told police he did not have one during subsequent annual registration declarations, Swansea Crown Court heard.
This year, a well-meaning family who knew Priday offered him a bed in their holiday apartment in Bulgaria. The 61-year-old paedophile flew out from Cardiff Airport on June 17 and joined the parents and child for seven days.
The father of the holidaying family later told police he felt ‘sick’ and was ‘physically shaking’ when he learned of Priday’s past convictions.
Andrew Priday (pictured) has 12 previous convictions for 71 offences between 1997 and 2005
On the defendant’s return to the UK he was arrested, and subsequently gave a largely ‘no comment’ interview.
He was also found to have a phone which he had not told the police about.
Priday has a history of lying about his previous convictions for sexual offending – including to the woman he was supposed to marry.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court said Priday’s recent breaches of the requirements imposed on him were ‘determined and devious’.
Priday, of Dyfatty, Swansea, pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and three counts of failing to abide by the requirements of the sex offenders registration scheme when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
The 61-year-old – who has already served two lengthy sentences for child sex offences – was jailed for 32 months.
The defendant has 12 previous convictions for 71 offences between 1997 and 2005, including 12 convictions for sexual offences.
In 1995 he was sentenced to seven years in prison at Cardiff Crown Court for indecent assault of a child and gross indecency with a child.
In 2005 he was given an 11-year extended sentence as a dangerous offender for indecent assault of a child, sexual activity with a child, making indecent images, and possessing indecent images.
He also has convictions for breaching the terms of the sex offenders register and for gaining pecuniary advantage by false pretences, meaning he failed to declare his past convictions when applying for a job.
Priday has also made false statements about his offending history to his fiancée when applying for a marriage licence.
On behalf of the sex offender, lawyer Andrew Evans argued there was no suggestion of any inappropriate behaviour on the part of the defendant during the Bulgarian holiday – but he accepted that his client’s compliance with the conditions and requirements he was subject to had ‘faltered’ in recent years.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court (pictured) said Priday’s recent breaches of the requirements imposed on him were ‘determined and devious’
Judge Geraint Walters said Priday seemed to have ‘given up on any pretence’ of complying with the requirements of the sex offenders register and Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
He said the reality was Priday’s breaches were ‘determined and devious’.
With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Priday was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.
He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
