A man who made sick images of children on mobile phones blamed his isolation and loneliness during lockdown for his crimes.
Stephen England, who says he has an addiction to pornography, admitted three offences of making indecent images of children when he appeared at court this week.
His lawyer claimed in his defence that his client’s mental health during the pandemic tempted him into searching on the internet for images and videos of children.
When The 47-year-old was arrested, his four mobile phones were reviewed and found to have a total of 91 Category A images of the most vile pornographic photographs of girls as young as 10.
There were also 173 pornographic videos of children in the most serious category.
Police also found hundreds of other images and videos on Grimsby man Stephen England’s phones, which had been viewed between November 2018 and November 2020.
Grimsby Crown Court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the four mobile phones.
Prosecuting, David Godfrey said how the offender was traced in November 2020 from his Facebook page which had an indecent image.
According to his lawyer, Richard Lunn, England made full admissions to police when he was interviewed, reports Grimsby Live.
He told how his client, who worked at a Grimsby timber yard, had previously been of good character with no offences to his name.
But he suffered from naivety and mental health problems which were compounded by his isolation during coronavirus lockdown.
He said: “He has an insight of his wrong doing.”
He added probation officers said he had a low risk of re-offending, following an assessment. He said he had learned his lesson.
Judge David Tremberg said England had an addiction to pornography and drank alcohol to excess.
He said: “You well knew what you were doing was wrong and you kept on doing it over and over. It provides implicit encouragement to those who abuse children.
“The emotional harm to children who are subjected to this pain never goes away. Some children never recover in terms of being able to carry out normal relationships, without thinking of what happened to them as children,” said the judge.
He added the defendant had not made contact with any child.
He sentenced England to 10 months in prison suspended for 18 months and ordered him to carry out 20 rehabilitation days.
He imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to last 10 years and he must sign on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years, which means he has to notify police of his address.
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