Man cleared of raping women he met in nightclubs must tell police BEFORE he has sex after cops argued he was still a ‘sexual predator’
Court's decision is the only the second ever following John O'Neill's ban earlier this year
A MAN has been banned from having sex without telling the police first - because they say he is a "sexual predator".
Nicolas Crawshaw, 23, has been given an interim Sex Risk Order (SRO) by West Cheshire magistrates which restricts him from having sexual contact without telling the police beforehand.
Crawshaw was cleared by a Warrington crown court jury of six counts of rape, two of sexual assault and two of assault by penetration against eight different women.
In February he was cleared of six counts of rape, one of sexual assault and one of assault by penetration against two women in a different trial and in 2015 he was cleared of one count of rape.
But on Friday Cheshire Police brought civil proceedings against him to impose an SRO after they said Crawshaw was a “sexual predator”.
Representing cops, Elizabeth Heavey told the court the police accepted the verdicts of the juries but the order came from a “wholly unique and extraordinary” set of circumstances.
She said: “He has admitted sexual contact with six complainants out of 11. There appears to have been no previous relationship with these complainants.
“He admitted in the course of criminal proceedings that he had sex with one complainant in a toilet in a nightclub. Many complainants he met in nightclubs or bars.
“It is for that reason that the application has been drafted.”
Related stories
The interim SRO restricts Crawshaw from contacting any of the complainants, from having sex in licensed premises, from having sex in public, from being in a licensed premises between 9pm and 6am and from having sexual contact with any person without giving the police notice beforehand as soon as practicable.
Ms Heavey said the restriction on Crawshaw’s sexual contact with other people was only the second case of its type, the other being a man called John O’Neill in York.
Defending, Howard Jones said Crawshaw “objects to the order in its entirety” but that he had no intention of contacting any of the women who made complaints about him and said he “didn’t want to have anything to do with them”.
He said the order to stop him going into licensed premises between 9pm and 6am would stop him going to a “family dinner, to Sainsbury’s, or a local shop” and was disproportionate.
Mr Jones said that as the hearing was about an interim order the bar for granting it was “low” but complained that the definition of sexual contact was “vague”.
He said: “With regard to contacting the police before any sexual contact takes place I would ask you to give serious thought to that.
“It will restrict his liberty. It does not particularly state what is meant by sexual activity. Is kissing a girl sexual activity?
“What if he does meet a girl for the first time and the girl in question wants him to stay overnight. Then Mr Crawshaw is in a situation that he has to ring the police and he has to tell the person why he is calling the police when he has been acquitted of all charges. That would ruin his life.”
Magistrates granted the interim order until a full hearing on November 2 at Chester Magistrates' Court.
A local newspaper and Crawshaw successfully opposed reporting restrictions which Cheshire Police asked to be placed on the case.
Cheshire Police argued Crawshaw should not be identified to “maintain his privacy” but he insisted he wanted the case to be heard in public.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368