A sex offender has been locked up for two years after specialist police officers found thousands of messages threatening to leak private photos of a woman. 

Andrew Wood, 33, from Hartlepool came under investigation after a routine unannounced visit by police. The attending officer was suspicious that he’d been deleting items from his phone.

The device was seized and forensically examined and it was discovered he’d sent many thousands of messages to a woman threatening to share private photos and videos with her friends and family and also informing her he had placed photos of her child online for other sex offenders to view.

Wood was immediately arrested, then charged and remanded in custody until his court appearance for sentencing today.

The Northern Echo: Andrew Wood

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The specialist officers who monitor convicted sex offenders, including Wood, have welcomed the two-year sentence given to him, as his actions breached the terms of his SHPO (sexual harm prevention order).

Detective Constable Malissa Haines from the Sex Offender Management Unit said: “Wood caused his victim serious mental harm by bombarding her with over 16, 000 unwanted calls, messages and emails over an 18-month period.

“These communications came with threats to disclose intimate private images. “I would like to thank the lady for being strong enough to report these vile crimes and for bravely supporting our enquiries. “I hope Wood’s imprisonment and restraining order provide her with a degree of comfort.”