March 2020

Paedophile shopkeeper used ‘devious tactics’ to dodge web restrictions

An Ipswich shopkeeper has been jailed for two years after being caught with indecent images of children for a third time.

David Davenport used “devious and manipulative” tactics to dodge restrictions preventing him from deleting the browsing history on his home computer devices.

The 63-year-old, of Hawthorn Drive, tried claiming he used adult pornography to “relieve stress” and had “pushed the boundaries” of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) imposed for previous offences.

Davenport had denied breaching the order until the day of his trial in January, when he admitted the offence, along with making one indecent image of a child in the most serious level A category, one at level B and two at level C.

He even submitted a ‘statement of innocence’ to Ipswich Crown Court before sentencing, but retracted it and accepted guilt at the eleventh hour on Wednesday.

Davenport was first convicted of possessing indecent images in his former home jurisdiction of Manchester in 2005.

In July 2011, he appeared before magistrates in Suffolk to admit another two offences, after being found with more than 180 indecent images of children.

He was handed a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and banned from owning devices without the capability of displaying an internet history.

In April 2018, public protection officers visited Davenport’s home to examine his devices and found no evidence of any pornographic websites being visited.

Upon further enquiry, Davenport admitted viewing adult pornography and running the QtWeb portable web browser via a USB drive to his computer.

Prosecutor Nicola May said further examination revealed two SD cards configured with software to enable private browsing, while an HP tower was found to contain the four deleted indecent images.

In total, Davenport had used web browsing software on 97 occasions between November 2017 and the day of his arrest.

He told police his mental health had been in decline for 15 years and that he viewed adult ‘teen’ pornography to deal with stress, but used a portable browser to avoid contaminating his computer.

Gavin Burrell, mitigating, said jail would spell the demise of Davenport’s already ailing business, impact on the finances of his wife and her family in Vietnam and prevent further rehabilitation in the community.

Judge Rupert Overbury said Davenport had wasted court time and public money by pursuing a non-existent defence and a basis of plea that he had lawfully “pushed the boundaries” of the SHPO.

He said it was his job to protect the public by jailing Davenport for a “deliberate and flagrant” breach of the order, which he extended to last another 10 years.

July 2011

Angry reaction after paedophile from Ipswich is spared jail

David Davenport, of Hawthorn Drive, Ipswich, was found with more than 180 indecent images of children.

The 54-year-old admitted two counts of making indecent images of children at South East Suffolk Magistrates Court and was handed a six-month prison sentence which was suspended for two years. He was also banned from accessing pornography on the internet for a period of two years

Chantry mum, Victoria Edwards, said she was “horrified” to read of Davenport’s “low punishment”.

The 35-year-old said: “I am disgusted that this man has received such a low punishment.

“I am a mother-of-five and feel very concerned for my children with this man on our doorstep.

“What is the world coming to? You are more likely to get harsher punishment for stealing from a shop.”

Condemning the sentence Fiona Ellis, of Survivors in Transition (SiT), a support group for adults who were sexually abused in childhood, said: “We believe that an internet ban and a suspended sentence in this case is a blatant disregard for the children who will have been affected in the making of these indecent images.

“We work with men and women who have been used in the making of indecent images in their childhood and this type of crime has imposed a devastating lifetime sentence upon them. The law needs to address the impact that this criminal activity can have on the victims being repeatedly re-abused throughout their lives.” To find out more about SiT visit http://www.survivorsintransition.co.uk or call             07765 052282      .