Police set to review how sex offender befriended Hull community groups
49-YEAR-OLD JAILED FOR 30 YEARS FOR STRING OF HISTORIC OFFENCES
HUMBERSIDE Police said they will review a case where a sex offender befriended a community group and helped mend bikes of women and children while being on the sex offender’s register.
Simon Heslop, 49, was jailed last week for 30 years for a string of sex offences against three females.
He had previously also been convicted of a sex offence in 2015, for which he was ordered to sign the sex offender’s register for seven years.
While still under the conditions of the order, he moved to Hull and made friends with community groups in the city which offer help and support to people in financial difficulties, offering to help fix up their bikes.
But after disappearing in July without word, those friends were horrified this week to learn he had been jailed for three decades for the historic sex offences.
After concerns from the community groups that they had no idea of his criminal past, Humberside Police has said they alerted the owners of the premises where he kept his lock-up, and notified them of his history, but said he wasn’t required to tell them by law as he was self-employed.
A spokesperson for Humberside Police said: “During a visit in June 2021, officers became aware of Mr Heslop’s business within a container provided by, but not within, the Freedom Centre.
“Due to this link, officers did make the Freedom Centre aware of his previous offending history so that they could take whatever action with that information they deemed appropriate, if any.
“Mr Heslop was arrested a short time later as part of an investigation led by West Yorkshire Police and he has remained remanded in custody since.”
They said the case will be reviewed, however, adding: “We always review the service we deliver to ensure there are no areas of concern and that could’ve been missed.
“As would be usual, this case will also be reviewed so that our teams can continually improve.”
The police force said that whenever someone is released from prison who remains on the sex offender’s register, their reintegration with society is managed by a specialist team.
They said: “The officers conduct unannounced visits on those they manage, where they can check things like their internet history and
who they are residing or associating with. The reason for these visits being unannounced is to ensure offenders are not able to conceal any inappropriate or criminal activity ahead of the visit.”
They added that offenders have no legal automatic responsibility to disclose what work they are doing, unless it falls under certain criteria, such as working in a school or joining the emergency services.
Because Heslop was selfemployed, he did not have to disclose this.
One woman who was befriended by Heslop said after discovering his offending: “All this time he was on the sex offender’s list. It’s made us all feel sick.”