A high-risk sex offender was identified and arrested during a Live Facial Recognition (LFR) deployment in Southwark, after breaching a court order by being alone with a young child. The case highlights the Metropolitan Police’s expanding use of LFR to protect vulnerable communities and apprehend dangerous individuals.
- David Cheneler, 73, a registered sex offender, was arrested on Friday, 10 January in Denmark Hill.
- He was spotted using Met Police’s LFR system while walking with a six-year-old girl.
- Cheneler breached a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) and was found carrying a concealed lock knife.
- He was sentenced to two years in prison at Kingston Crown Court on 20 May 2025.
Incident Details
The Met’s Live Facial Recognition technology flagged David Cheneler as a wanted subject when he passed a police LFR van positioned in the Denmark Hill area. Officers quickly confirmed his identity and intervened. Shockingly, he was accompanied by a six-year-old girl, violating a SOPO that explicitly banned him from being alone with children under 14.
Further investigation revealed that Cheneler had befriended the child’s mother and had been picking her daughter up from school as a “favour” on multiple occasions. Neither the mother nor child were aware of his extensive criminal history, which included 15 counts of indecent assault and five counts of gross indecency with a child dating from 1968 to 1993.
Cheneler had served a nine-year sentence after his 2010 conviction. The SOPO, imposed in 2019, was meant to safeguard children from further harm.
Police Response and Sentencing
He pleaded guilty to breaching the SOPO and possessing an offensive weapon—a lock knife concealed in his belt buckle—on 13 January at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on 20 May at Kingston Crown Court.
Detective Constable Adam Pearce, who led the investigation, said:
“This is a prime example of how the Met is using technology to remove dangerous offenders from our streets… Had he not been identified, it’s possible he could have gone on to abuse this child.”
Lindsey Chiswick, the Met’s lead for LFR, added:
“These interventions are crucial. Without this technology, Cheneler may have had the opportunity to cause further harm.”
Technology and Community Safety
Live Facial Recognition (LFR) compares faces in real-time to a watchlist of offenders and missing persons. In this case, it enabled officers to prevent potential abuse by intercepting a known offender before further harm could occur.
The Met emphasises that every LFR deployment is based on intelligence-led operational needs, ensuring focus remains on high-risk individuals.
