A Bedford paedophile who was caught with thousands of child sex abuse images was on Monday, November 28, 2022, jailed for 16 months.
Brian Gannon, 55, was arrested in December 2020 after the IP address at his home was linked to the downloading of images.
Prosecutor Peter Shaw told Luton Crown Court his computers were seized. In all there were 712 Category A images, the most serious level, 513 Category B and 4,049 Category C, the lowest level.
There was 30 extreme pornographic images involving animals. When the police asked Gannon, who lives alone, who was responsible he said: “Probably me.”
He told the officers that his wife had left him when she saw that he had been looking at child images. In a second interview in March this year he said he felt disgusted that he had downloaded the images.
He said he had deleted some and then re-downloaded them. Gannon of Greyfriars Chambers, Greyfriars, Bedford appeared for sentencing having pleaded guilty to three charges of downloading indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornography.
Zayd Ahmed, defending, Gannon had been the victim of sex abuse as a teenager.
He said he was remorseful and ashamed. He asked the judge to pass a suspended sentence saying: “He does not want to live the life he has lived for the last 10 years. But Judge Rebecca Herbert jailed him saying: “You were in possession of extremely unpleasant, abusive material.
There is a huge quantity. The 712 images in Category A are of children being raped and suffered appalling abuse. “These are extremely serious offences and are a complete blight on society.
“These are real children being tortured and abused to satisfy the appetites of people like you.”
He must register as sex offender for 10 years and abide by the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
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