November 2026

Paedophile convicted for fourth time

A repeat s*x offender who had already been convicted three times for the same type of crime has been jailed again after threatening to kidnap and r*pe someone he believed was a 15-year-old girl.

Richard Frith, 50, had previous convictions for s*xual communication offences in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Yet he returned to the same behaviour, threatening to kidnap and r*pe someone he believed was a child.

His latest offence brings the number of convictions for the same type of offence to four.

Frith was also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed in 2024. It restricted his use of online applications without giving police advance notice.

He breached the order by downloading the Meet24 dating app, where he contacted someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl. In reality, he was communicating with a member of a paedophile-hunter group acting as a decoy.

During a conversation on September 15, Frith made explicit s*xual comments and sent an indecent image of himself. Police arrested him six days later.

The court heard that Frith had already breached his prevention order twice before: once in 2024 and again earlier in 2026. The earlier 2026 breach resulted in a 34-week prison sentence.

Frith, who had been living at the Dawn Centre in Leicester, pleaded guilty to breaching the order and attempting to engage in s*xual communication with a child.

At Leicester Crown Court on November 6th, his defence said he had mental health difficulties and had been off medication at the time. The court also heard that he had serious physical health problems.

Recorder David Allan noted that the latest conversation had been with a decoy, meaning no child had received the messages. He also said Frith’s breach of the prevention order was a serious aggravating factor.

Frith was jailed for 10 months.