Grandad who had 15,000 child porn pictures avoids jail

Judge Andrew Menary, QC, heard that Barry Stott had used peer-to-peer software which can be used for distributing images and the judge said that if he had done so he would have gone straight to jail.

Liverpool Crown Court was told that when police from the Greater Manchester Force raided Stott’s home on October 20 last year they seized a tower computer, seven pen drives, five DVDs and a compact computer.

When these were forensically examined indecent images of children were found and when quizzed by police 66-year-old Stott said “he was disgusted with himself”, said Ken Grant, prosecuting.

Stott said he was “grateful” that the police had arrived and said he had started looking at them four years earlier after his wife left him.

“He stated that viewing them had become an obsession,” said Mr Grant.

He had begun by looking at adult porn and then moved onto looking at images of children, ideally girls aged 14 - 16 in modelling poses. He denied sharing the images.

The court heard that Stott, who has no previous convictions, has since sought help with the Lucy Faithful Foundation and still regrets his behaviour.

Stott, of Anderton Street, Leigh, pleaded guilty to three offences of making indecent photographs and movies of children in all three categories of seriousness, but with the overwhelming majority in the least serious category.

Stott was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to attend up to 60 days rehabilitation activities.

He was also ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for five years and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which limits his internet access, was also imposed to run for the same length of time.