Fleetwood woman in court after breaching her sex offender's order

Joanne Burr, 40, was looking after her friend’s two-year-old boy on May 5 when he vanished from her house in Garfield Street, Fleetwood.

The child was found wandering by himself along Victoria Street at around 7.40am where he was picked up by police officers and taken to the local station.

There had been no reports of missing children, which left officers having to go door-to-door asking residents if they recognised the boy and knew his family.

Two hours later, police made contact with Burr and learned she had been responsible for the boy’s welfare that morning. She was arrested on suspicion of child neglect.

Burr’s lurid past

We can now report that Burr, a former hairstylist, is a registered sex offender who served time in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in 2014.

Then aged 32, she abused a schoolgirl while staging a sex show at her former home in Chapel Street, Coppull, near Chorley.

Burr was paid by a 73-year-old man who watched as she sexually assaulted the vulnerable teenager.

“Close your eyes and think of the money”, Burr told schoolgirl

Covering the trial in 2014, The Lancashire Post reported: “Burr, 32, told the 15-year-old to “close her eyes and think of the money” as she engaged in a sex show with the youngster for 73-year-old pervert Roy Spencer.

"Preston Crown Court heard Burr was in financial difficulties and dependant on cocaine when the youngster confided in her she had allowed Spencer to use her as a sex object in a hotel in Chorley as she was desperate for cash.

“But rather than helping the youngster, Burr encouraged her to phone Spencer and offer to perform for him at her home. Spencer agreed and £200 was transferred to Burr’s bank account.

“Spencer, 73, of no fixed address, was jailed for eight years at Preston Crown Court for his part in the sickening abuse of the schoolgirl.

“The court heard the victim had a controlling boyfriend and needed £140 to pay off a drugs debt.

“Following her ordeal she was admitted to hospital as a result of her trauma and remained as an inpatient until she was able to access the support and help she needed.

“Burr pleaded guilty to sexual assault on the basis it was not her idea to perform the sex show.

“But Judge Heather Lloyd, sentencing, said: “Even so, you did not take the role of the sensible adult and say no.

“You prepared for it, you allowed your home to be used, you had your own costumes and accessories.

“I accept that any woman who sells herself for sex is likely to be in a place of desperation but if you as an adult decide to prostitute yourself for money, as you did that night and have done subsequently, then that is your prerogative but do not include a child.

“The sad and simple fact is you used her in order to gain money and you were not thinking of her welfare.”

She was found guilty at Preston Crown Court and sentenced to 32 months in prison.

She was also made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order which forbids her from unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16.

Last week, she was brought before Blackpool Magistrates where she admitted breaching the order after caring for her friend’s two-year-old boy on May 5.

Appealing for leniency, her lawyer Patrick Nelligan told the court his client’s latest offence was not sexually motivated. She was arrested on suspicion of child neglect and is not suspected of any sexual offences against the boy.

It is Burr’s second breach since the order was imposed on her nine years ago and the prosecution said it regarded the matter as a particularly serious breach.

Magistrates sent Burr to be sentenced at Preston Crown Court and requested pre-sentence reports to be prepared.