In 2018, the Offender Database recorded that 62-year-old Norman Ball was jailed for nearly a year for inciting a young girl to send naked photographs and sexually touching her in public shops. Ball—of North Street, Caerwys, Flintshire—was sentenced at Mold Crown Court. It was reported that the investigation was launched after the victim, then a teenager, disclosed a series of inappropriate messages and physical assaults that began when she was 13 years old.
The investigation established that Ball used WhatsApp and Snapchat to groom the vulnerable victim, requesting that she send him naked images for his own gratification. Mold Crown Court heard that Ball’s behaviour progressed from digital messaging to physical contact in local businesses. The prosecution reported that on one occasion, Ball stroked the girl’s clothing in a shop, and on another occasion in a Prestatyn chemist, he instructed her to reach into his pocket for paracetamol so he could touch her breast.
Judicial Findings and Investigative Detail
The court reported that Ball targeted a particularly vulnerable victim and claimed his actions were a result of feeling isolated following the death of his wife. Mold Crown Court heard that police discovered photographs of Ball’s own genitals on his phone, though he claimed he could not remember taking them. The investigation established that the victim, who was 17 at the time of the 2018 sentencing, required counselling and was diagnosed with anxiety due to the continued effect of Ball’s inappropriate sexual behaviour.
Judge Rhys Rowlands presided over the sentencing, handing Ball a 51-week custodial term. For his actions in Caerwys and Prestatyn, Ball was also placed on a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for seven years. The judge noted that the messages and physical assaults represented a serious breach of trust by a grandfather-figure, necessitating both the prison sentence and a seven-year period of registration on the Sex Offenders Register to monitor his future conduct in North Wales.
Status and Statutory Requirements
For the records reported in Flintshire and Denbighshire, the status of Norman Ball as of April 5, 2026, was as follows:
- Custodial Status: RELEASED (Served 51-week term; sentenced 2018; released on licence circa 2019).
- Sex Offenders Register: Notification requirements EXPIRED (7-year term ended 2025).
- SHPO Status: Sexual Harm Prevention Order EXPIRED (7-year term ended 2025).
- DBS Status: Placed on the Barring List (Indefinite ban on working with children).
- Legal Status: CONVICTED (Inciting a child to commit a sexual act; Sexual assault; 3 counts total).
- Judicial Oversight: Sentenced at Mold Crown Court; investigated by North Wales Police.
- Criminal Record: Grooming a 13-year-old via Snapchat; Sexual assault in a Prestatyn chemist; Possession of indecent self-imagery.
- Origin: North Street, Caerwys, Flintshire.
Monitoring and Public Protection
Ball was managed as a registered sex offender within the Caerwys area following his release from prison. Due to the nature of his conduct—which involved the grooming of a child over several years and physical assaults in public places—his management was a priority for the North Wales Police Public Protection Unit during his seven-year registration period. Authorities state that while his active SHPO and registration have now concluded, his permanent disqualification from child-related employment remains a mandatory safeguard.
As a convicted sex offender, the (then) 62-year-old’s history remains permanently logged on the national police database for law enforcement reference. Authorities state that his history of targeting a vulnerable teenager indicates a specific risk profile that remains of interest to safeguarding agencies. Any reports of suspicious contact with minors or attempts to return to the digital platforms he used for grooming in Flintshire or Denbighshire would be met with an immediate review to ensure the ongoing safety of the public.
QUESTION – Given that the offender used a “medical excuse” involving paracetamol to trick a child into being touched in a chemist, do you believe that “Public Space Bans” should be a mandatory legal requirement for all sex offenders to prevent them from entering shops or businesses when children are present?
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