A man registered as a sex offender has been sentenced to two years in prison after he was caught walking alongside a six-year-old girl during a Live Facial Recognition (LFR) police operation.

David Cheneler, 73, was discovered with the child in Denmark Hill, south-east London, on January 10, following an alert triggered by LFR cameras.

Subsequent checks revealed that Cheneler was violating his Sexual Offence Prevention Order (SOPO), which explicitly prohibited him from being unsupervised with any child under 14. Additionally, he was found to be carrying a lock-knife.

Hailing from Lewisham, Cheneler received his sentence at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday after previously admitting to both breaching the terms of his SOPO and possessing an offensive weapon.

The Metropolitan Police employs LFR in designated areas across London to record footage of passersby and compare their images against a database of wanted individuals.

When a match is identified, an alert is generated, prompting an officer to assess the situation and determine whether to approach the individual.

Detective Constable Adam Pearce remarked, “While no accusations were made against David Cheneler in this instance, it’s conceivable that had he not been identified through this technology, he might have proceeded to harm this child.

“Her mother was entirely unaware of his past offenses, and both she and her young daughter were exploited by Cheneler, who betrayed their trust.”

The Met Police reported that Cheneler had collected the child from school as a favor to her mother and had performed this duty on two previous occasions, having established a rapport with them over the span of a year.

Lindsey Chiswick, the Metropolitan Police’s lead for LFR, noted that the technology can be instrumental in preventing individuals on a watchlist from violating their mandated conditions.

“Without this technology, Cheneler could have had the chance to inflict further harm,” she stated.

Cheneler’s SOPO was first issued in 2019, coinciding with a nine-year prison sentence for 21 counts of child abuse.