Radlett man Haydn Holland was given a six-month suspended sentence today (Tues) when he appeared in court to plead guilty to possessing indecent images of children.
St Albans Crown Court was told how, on the afternoon of November 30 2017, police went to his home because they had received “intelligence” that images of children had been downloaded at the address.
Catherine Milsom, prosecuting, said 66-year-old Holland, a consultant in the energy industry, was asked by one of the officers in the kitchen of the house: “Are you in possession of any indecent images of children?”
Miss Milsom went on: “He shook his head and said ‘No, I haven’t downloaded anything.”
But moments later she said the married father of two grown up children told the officers: “Ok I have opened a couple of images.”
The court was told he admitted doing it on a laptop computer, which was then seized by the officers.
Today, when he appeared in the dock, he pleaded guilty to possessing a category A indecent image of a child being sexually abused and a second charge of possessing 13 category C indecent images of children. Category A images feature the very worst sexual abuse on youngsters.
Judge Michael Simon, hearing the case, was told Holland was a man of previous good character.
His barrister Charles Falk said the offences had been “limited to a week” and involved just two browsing sessions.
He said none of the images had been saved and he went on: “There is no evidence he was systematically seeking out this material.”
The court was told that Holland had co-operated fully with the police and, since his arrest, had taken steps of his own to tackle his offending.
Mr Falk said Holland had contacted the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which is a charity that helps people who have been caught viewing child sex images to address their problems.
He said Holland had been having group therapy sessions, as well as one to one therapy sessions.
0 Comments