Rockingham pensioner given suspended sentence after depraved images of children found on his computer

A paedophile from Rockingham has avoided a jail term after police found hundreds of child abuse images on his computer.

Officers visited the home of Alan Pell, 65, in Michael's Walk, Rockingham, in September 2018 and arrested him.

An investigation found a total of 453 indecent images of children - 16 in the most depraved category A, 83 in category B and 354 in category C.

Police also found nine prohibited images of children and 328 extreme pornographic images which included pictures of sex acts with dogs, horses and pigs.

Pell pleaded guilty to five charges of possessing indecent images of children, prohibited images of a child and extreme pornographic images at his first magistrates' court hearing and appeared before Northampton Crown Court today (Thursday, October 28) for sentence.

The court was told how members of his family were reliant on him for care and that he had not reoffended since his arrest three years ago.

Sentencing him to eleven months in jail, suspended for two years, His Honour Judge Michael Herbert QC said that he had taken his early guilty plea into account, as well as his caring responsibilities and his previous good character.

He said: "Your internet history showed a number of internet searches for extreme pornography including images of infants in distress.

"I hope you understand the seriousness of these offences will attract a custodial sentence.

"It's been three years since you were arrested and you have kept out of trouble."

Judge Herbert said that he would have sentenced Pell to 16 months in prison after trial, but his early guilty plea had reduced that to 11 months. He said that he would suspend the sentence for two years because that gave Pell a chance to undertake a treatment programme in the community that would give him the best chance of rehabilitation.

He was ordered to complete a 30-day rehabilitation requirement and six months of mental health treatment.

Pell was also given a ten-year sexual harm prevention order with seven conditions including banning him from having any contact with under-18s.