Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO)

Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPOs) can impose harsh restrictions on your daily life, while breaching these orders can result in criminal convictions and much more severe consequences for your future. Obtaining legal advice from specialist solicitors is crucial to protect your best interests, while ensuring that the proposed or existing rules of your Sexual Harm Prevention Order are carefully examined to ensure they are proportionate and appropriate to the circumstances of your case.

What Is a Sexual Harm Prevention Order?

Sexual Harm Prevention Orders are court orders designed to protect the public from sexual harm by placing specific restrictions on the behaviour and activities of a person who is considered to pose a risk. These orders can be imposed by the Magistrates’ or Crown Court following certain sexual offence convictions, or the police may apply for one against a qualifying offender where the necessary conditions are met. 

SHPOs were introduced on March 8th 2015 under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, replacing Sexual Offences Prevention Orders (SOPOs) and Foreign Travel Orders (FTOs). The powers governing SHPOs are now contained in Section 345 onwards of the Sentencing Act 2020, with Section 346 establishing when a court can impose an order. It states that an SHPO may be made where it is considered necessary to protect the public or particular members of the public, such as children or vulnerable adults, from sexual harm. 

The restrictions imposed by these orders should be tailored to the circumstances of the offence and proportionate to the risk posed by the offender. For example, following an indecent images offence, an SHPO may restrict how the person uses the internet or accesses devices capable of storing or viewing digital images. 

Do Sexual Harm Prevention Orders Prove Guilt?

While an SHPO can be imposed following a conviction, being given one does not necessarily mean that you have been found guilty of a sexual offence. In some cases, the police may apply for an order against qualifying offenders for whom they consider an SHPO necessary to protect the public from sexual harm. 

In this context, a ‘qualifying offender’ describes someone who has been convicted of, cautioned for, or otherwise dealt with in relation to an offence specified in Schedule 3 or Schedule 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This means that an SHPO can be made even where there has been no conviction for the alleged sexual offence. For this reason, the existence of an SHPO does not necessarily constitute proof of guilt.

Are SHPOs Recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC)?

While the Police National Computer (PNC) primarily records criminal convictions, cautions and reprimands, the details of sexual harm prevention orders are also recorded on this database. This means that an SHPO will be visible when the police carry out a PNC check, allowing officers to see the restrictions and requirements that apply to you. 

Being recorded on the PNC can have wider implications for your future employment prospects, particularly when applying for roles that involve working with children or vulnerable adults. Depending on the role and the type of DBS check required, information held by the police may be disclosed, indicating whether you are prohibited from undertaking regulated activity with children or adults.

What Can Sexual Harm Prevention Orders Include?

The restrictions contained within an SHPO should be tailored to the circumstances of the offence and the risk that the offender is considered to pose. Any prohibited behaviour must be justified relative to the need to protect the public from sexual harm and should be proportionate to the circumstances of the case. While the specific sexual harm prevention order rules will vary from person to person, some common restrictions include:

• Internet use: Restrictions on visiting certain websites, accessing online platforms or possessing devices with online capabilities.
• Use of electronic devices: Requirements to allow devices such as mobile phones or computers to be routinely monitored or inspected by the police.
• Contact with children or vulnerable adults: Prohibitions on contacting or being alone with young or vulnerable people where this is considered necessary to manage the risk of sexual harm.
• International travel: Restrictions on travelling to certain countries or leaving the UK without permission.

It is important to note that these restrictions should not unnecessarily prevent the offender from carrying out essential everyday activities. For example, where an SHPO restricts internet or device use, the order should make clear that necessary activities such as online banking, shopping or communicating with essential services are permitted.

What Happens When You Breach a Sexual Harm Prevention Order?

Breaching an SHPO is a criminal offence that can result in a significant sentence, depending on the circumstances. When deciding the appropriate penalty for a breach, the court will consider how deliberate the violation was, the amount of harm caused or risk created by the behaviour, and whether the breach was serious or persistent. 

While less severe breaches may result in a fine or community sentence, more serious breaches can result in stricter sexual harm prevention order rules, extended terms of the existing order, or a maximum prison sentence of five years’ custody.

Discharging or Varying Sexual Harm Prevention Orders

In practice, some of the restrictions imposed by an SHPO can become difficult or impractical to comply with as your personal circumstances change. Where this happens, it may be possible to apply to the court to vary or discharge the order before the end of its term. It will then be down to the court to consider whether the restrictions remain necessary and proportionate to the risk of sexual harm, including whether they can be effectively enforced. 

An application to vary or discharge an SHPO may be considered where:

• There is no longer risk: Evidence may show that the restrictions are no longer necessary to protect the public.
• The restrictions are disproportionate: In light of changes in your circumstances or the level of risk you present, the restrictions in your SHPO may no longer be reasonable. 
• The order cannot be policed: Certain restrictions may be difficult or impossible for the police to monitor or enforce in practice.
• The order infringes Human Rights: In some circumstances, restrictions included in an SHPO may interfere with rights protected by the Human Rights Act 1998.
• The order infringes Right to Employment: Certain restrictions may have an unnecessarily severe impact on your employment or ability to undertake legitimate work.
• The restrictions circumvent police procedures: The terms of an order may need to be reconsidered where they create practical difficulties for the police or conflict with established procedures.
• There are concerns about case management: Changes to the way an order is supervised or managed may provide grounds to seek a variation where the existing arrangements are no longer appropriate.

While sexual harm prevention order rules generally apply for at least five years, different restrictions within the same order can have different durations. Applications to discharge certain orders within their five-year window generally require the agreement of the court and offender, whereas restrictions can be varied as long as the statutory requirements for variation are met.

Legal Advice on Sexual Harm Prevention Order Rules

Sexual Harm Prevention Orders can place significant restrictions on many aspects of your everyday life, including who you can contact, how you use the internet, what devices you can access and where you can travel or work. These restrictions can remain in place for a number of years, which can impact your employment opportunities, personal relationships and ability to perform ordinary activities.

At Newtons Solicitors, our team of sexual abuse solicitors has decades of experience supporting individuals affected by sexual harm prevention order rules, including challenging applications before they are made, appealing to reduce or remove unnecessary restrictions, as well as ensuring that any conditions imposed are reasonable in the circumstances of your case.

When you instruct Newtons Solicitors, our support can include:

• Opposing application: We can examine the basis of the proposed SHPO and challenge the application where the order is not necessary or the evidence does not justify the restrictions.
• Refining conditions: Where an SHPO is considered necessary, we can challenge the proposed conditions to ensure that any restrictions are relevant, proportionate and practical to comply with.
• Representation at Magistrates’ Court: Our specialist solicitors can represent you throughout SHPO proceedings, presenting your case and challenging the application or proposed conditions on your behalf.

For further information about what Sexual Harm Prevention Orders are, or to discuss your options for challenging, changing or discharging the orders made against you, please contact us today to arrange a confidential consultation.

Sexual Harm Prevention Order FAQs