Sex offender Nicholas Harford lied to partner about his real name

Nicholas Harford
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A man who lied to his partner about his name despite being legally obliged to share it has been jailed. Nicholas Harford, 38, who is on the sex offenders register, told his partner his name was Nicholas Pengarrow and she did not discover he was a registered sex offender until she saw a post about him on social media.

Harford, of no fixed abode, appeared at Truro Crown Court today (September 17) charged with five counts of failure to comply with notification requirements as a registered sex offender.

These included failure to notify the police of a change of address within three days of the change, failure to notify police of a new bank card within three days of acquiring one, failure to notify police of being of ‘no fixed abode’ within seven days of his previous notification, failure to notify of his alias, ‘Nicholas Pengarrow’, and failure to notify an address to the police that he stayed for more than seven days in a 12 month period.

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Harford pleaded guilty to four of the five counts and not guilty to count three - failure to notify police of being of ‘no fixed abode’ within seven days of his previous notification. In sentencing Harford, Recorder Richard Stead agreed that this count will lie on file.

Prosecuting the case, Laura D’Alessandro told the court how Harford has been a registered sex offender and subject to these notification requirements since a conviction in 2019. She said he had notified police on April 22, 2024 that his new address was the Mounts Bay Inn in Mullion.

Harford had a meeting with a police officer in a public place because he refused the officer’s entry to his address. Ms D’Alessandro said the officer wanted to provide a verbal explanation to him about the requirement to notify police of a change in his address but Harford said he did not need it as he was already aware of it.

However, the owner of the Mounts Bay Inn later told police that Harford had collected his belongings and left the address on July 17 but failed to notify police until July 30. Ms D’Alessandro said his whereabouts had been unknown for a period of two weeks.

She added that Harford started a relationship with a woman on May 11, 2024 and told her his surname was ‘Pengarrow’. She remained unaware of his true surname and his status as a sex offender until she saw a post about him on social media.

Ms D’Alessandro told the court that Harford has a “history of disobedience of court orders”, adding that his previous failure to comply with notification requirements was on July 11, 2023. At the time, he had been in a relationship with a woman and spent a significant amount of time with her, including sometimes taking her children to school with her.

He also stayed overnight on eight occasions, in addition to spending time at the property throughout the day. Part of Harford's notification requirements are that he must also notify police if he resides or stays for more than 12 hours at a place where under-18s reside or stay, with or without an adult, which he failed to do. As a result, he was found guilty at a trial and imprisoned for 26 weeks.

Defending Harford, Ramsay Quaife said that Harford’s recent breaches have been minor and while he had been a day late to notify police of a change in his address, he did not have an address to notify them of. He added that Harford handed himself into police on August 13, 2024, and pleaded guilty to the breaches at the earliest opportunity.

In sentencing, Recorder Stead said Harford has “a string of previous convictions”, including some that involve failing to comply with notification requirements. He added: “These all demonstrate you have a certain contempt for court orders which you feel you don't need to comply with”.

Recorder Stead said Harford has “shown a deliberate failure to comply”, despite previously telling the police that he is well aware of the requirements. While individually, each of these breaches don’t seem to produce a risk, collectively they do, Recorder Stead added.

He said the offences required an inevitable immediate custodial sentence and told Harford that he has a “duty to ensure you don’t come back to court faced with these charges”. Harford was sentenced to 27 weeks imprisonment for each count to run concurrently.

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