Blackpool sex offender stayed at family hotels after release from prison

Philip Butterworth was sentenced to 27 months behind bars in December 2020 after sexually assaulting a young woman with learning difficulties.

The 72-year-old sat next to his vulnerable victim on a Blackpool to Preston train, trapping her in her seat while he groped her.

Moments before the attack, Butterworth targeted the young woman as she waited for her train at Blackpool North station, asking her if she was travelling alone.

During the 25-minute journey, he subjected her to what police described as a “vile and disgusting assault”, leaving her “terrified and deeply traumatised”.

He pleaded guilty to sexual assault, was jailed and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

But after his release from prison on licence, Butterfield failed to inform police of his whereabouts as required under the terms of his sex offender notification requirements.

Blackpool Magistrates heard how he stayed in a number of hotels in the days following his release, including the four star Imperial Hotel in North Shore.

He was eventually located and arrested for the breach which left the 72-year-old facing a potential return to prison.

But Deputy District Judge John Rowan spared him, sentencing him to eight weeks in prison suspended for a year.

In his defence, Butterworth said he tried to contact police but no one answered the phone.

He added that he intended to return to southern Spain where he had been living prior to his prison sentence.

“I come from Marbella in the Costa Del Crime and I am going back there,” he told the court.