Lonely Wakefield paedophile fled to France for five years after friends disowned him

A convicted paedophile ordered to sign the sex offender register fled the country for five years after his friends disowned him.
By Nick Frame
Published 22nd Aug 2023, 11:45 GMT
Updated 23rd Aug 2023, 17:14 GMT
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Steven Oxley was finally arrested after landing back at Stansted Airport and jailed this week. The 33-year-old was convicted in 2018 of making indecent images of children and given a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.

He was also told to sign the register for 10 years, prosecutor Robert Mochrie told Leeds Crown Court.

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Just over a month after his conviction, officers from the public protection unit attended his address on Horbury Road in Wakefield for a routine inspection, but were told he had left the country.

Oxley left the country on a ferry and was living on the continent for five years. (pic by Getty / National World)Oxley left the country on a ferry and was living on the continent for five years. (pic by Getty / National World)
Oxley left the country on a ferry and was living on the continent for five years. (pic by Getty / National World)

Investigations found he boarded a ferry from Dover to Calais. It was assumed he returned briefly a short time later because records showed he boarded another ferry from Newhaven in East Sussex to Dieppe in France on August 2, 2018.

He was then arrested at Stansted on July 31 this year. Appearing in court via video link from HMP Leeds, he admitted breaching the terms of the sex offender register, and breaching his suspended sentence.

Mitigating, Sarah Myatt said: “His friends disowned him and he had nobody to speak to him. After that happened he felt on the brink of suicide and had nothing to live for in this country. From the very outset, he accepts it’s a custodial sentence. He is extremely realistic.”

She said he had not offended during his time on run, aside from a minor shop theft in the Netherlands, and had been a hard-working man. Judge Andrew Stubbs KC jailed him for 12 months.