Jail for IT consultant caught with child porn

Paul Berry was given a community order in 2003 for 20 such offences but in December 2011 police were notified that he had accessed a child pornography site based in Luxembourg during 2009.

Officers subsequently seized computer equipment and DVDs at his home in Francis Close, Halifax, and found more than 300 indecent images and some movies.

Paul Nicholson, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court yesterday that they included one image at level five depicting sadism towards a girl aged between 11 and 14.

The defendant admitted searching porn sites for child images and said he had sought therapy.

Berry, 41, pleaded guilty to 12 charges of making indecent images. Niall Carlin, representing him, said he had been suffering from depression since 2006 which had led to the increase in his use of pornography.

He urged the court to suspend any jail sentence, saying Berry was now in a stable relationship. “He accepts he has a problem and has sought help,” Mr Carlin added.

But Judge Tom Bayliss QC said there was no alternative but an immediate prison term. He said Berry had accessed images showing children being sexually assaulted in a “terrible” way for his own pleasure.

“You are self evidently a very intelligent man. You have a degree in mathematics and post-graduate certificates in computing,” he added.

“For a number of years you have been employed as an IT consultant and you are able to build and maintain software and hardware systems for the home. Of course it was that knowledge in part which permitted you to access the material for which you have to be sentenced.”