Former Sellafield police officer loses bid to alter sexual harm order

Formerly known as Shaun Mandale, the 47-year-old, from Workington, appeared before Carlisle Crown Court with the surname Devlin as he sought permission to change his sexual harm prevention order.

The defendant was attempting to have certain conditions removed – including a ban on any unsupervised contact or communication with any person aged under 18; and living or sleeping in any premises where a person of that age was also resident.

The existing order makes an exception for contact with any such person provided it was “inadvertent,” the court heard.

Former Sellafield policeman Shaun Mandale changed his name (Image: Newsquest)

Brendan Burke, for Devlin, whose address was given as Belvedere Street, Workington, said that the reason behind the application was the defendant’s desire to find work. primarily as a HGV lorry driver.

The barrister said Devlin feared making deliveries may bring him into contact with employees who may be aged under 18, such as a 17-year-old warehouse employee. But the clause in the order about "inadvertent" contact guarded against that, the court heard.

After legal discussions, during which Cumbria Police barrister Melanie Foo said any change of the existing order was opposed because it amounted to an “out of time” appeal against the ruling, Mr Burke said the application would be abandoned.

Read more: JAILED: Sick Sellafield Cop had 18,000 child abuse images

At Devlin’s original sentencing hearing, the court heard that he was found to have possessed a collection of more than 18,000 child abuse images, including ones showing the “sadistic rape and abuse” of babies.

He had plunged the “very depths of depravity”, said the judge.

Devlin – then known as Mandale – was jailed after he admitted several offences, including the possession of 18,135 child abuse images, of which 7,651 were classed as Category A, the most serious kind.

The offending came to light when police raided Devlin’s home, the officers having had a tip-off that the defendant was using a “cloud storage” facility to access the illegal images.

In some secret communications with fellow perverts, he spoke of needing to be “discreet” because his wife was in bed in another room.

Mr Burke, defending, said the defendant’s life had been “devastated” by his offending, leading to the end of his marriage, and a suicide attempt. But the defendant had taken steps to address his behaviour. A spokesman for the Civil Nuclear Constabulary described Devlin's offending as "repugnant". 

Any person worried about their thoughts and behaviour, or somebody else's, or if you fear a child may have been abused, can confidentially contact the Stop It Now charity.  The charity's confidential helpline is 0808 1000 900.