Man who downloaded child porn spared immediate jail term
A SOUTHAMPTON man, who downloaded sordid pictures of young children, was spared an immediate prison sentence after a judge heard he helped his estranged wife look after their son who had special needs.
Andy Gillman, 43, had been arrested after police called at his home with a search warrant and an examination of a computer tower and his mobile phone revealed more than 1,300 indecent pictures.
Gillman, of Larkspur Chase, admitted eight counts of making indecent images and two of possessing them. He received a 12-month suspended sentence with three years supervision and told he must attend an Internet sex offenders treatment programme.
In mitigation, Ian Hope said Gillman had been suffering from stress and 97 per cent of the images fell into the least serious category.
His wife had left him, though he was hoping his marriage would recover, and he had also lost his job.
Judge Gary Burrell QC said the offences merited an immediate jail sentence but his wife depended on him to look after their son at weekends.
Gillman was also placed on the sex offenders register and under a five-year sexual offences prevention order he must not contact girls under 16 on the Internet and he was banned from using “a device” to create digital images.
