Man with indecent images of 'very young' children in distress is spared jail

Andrew Melbourne of Blackpool Old Road in Poulton le Fylde appeared at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday after he admitted to downloading extreme pornography.

The court heard how Melbourne, who had suffered a medical problem that left him impotent, had been looking at the images for at least 10 months before Cheshire Police searched his home on Bradshaw Lane in Grappenhall.

In the kitchen they found a laptop plugged in with around 413 images on it, including 17 in the most serious category.

Prosecuting, Peter Hussey said: “He says he was seeking some form of sexual spark and says he wasn’t looking for any kind of gratification from the material.

“Because of the nature of the searches, ultimately he discovered indecent images of children and he was watching those as well. There were search terms which he clearly intended to look for.

“One aggravating feature is discernible pain or distress suffered by a child depicted in one of the images.”

Defending, Michael Davies said: “Melbourne says that his problems started about five years ago after the breakdown of his long term relationship. That was very traumatic for him and struck at the heart of his self-worth.

“He turned initially to drink and in drink thought he would just access online pornography.

“He has sought to deal with his various problems since his arrest, he’s done much to turn this around.”

Sentencing, Judge Roger Dutton said: “You have committed serious offences. It’s clear to me that at least in part some of that material related to very young children.

“You are a person of previous positive good character and you have lost your good character. I have no doubt that your life will be very different now.

“You are at low risk of reoffending and if I were to send you to prison, no meaningful work could be done with you.”

Melbourne was handed a two year suspended sentence, a supervision order and ordered to pay costs of £425.