Dad told the police ‘it’s me’ when they came knocking at his door after he ‘fell into a deep hole’
A Tesco worker was caught with an “appalling, sickening and quite staggering” stash of nearly 150,000 indecent images of children. Simon Smith told the police “it’s me” when officers came knocking at his door after he “fell into a deep hole” online.
He has now lost his marriage and his employment with the supermarket giant as a result of the disturbing discovery on his hard drive. But the perverted dad walked free from court today.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Thursday that Merseyside Police attended Smith’s then home on Bellair Avenue in Crosby on July 12 last year after receiving intelligence over his activities on the internet. A mobile phone and a hard drive were seized from the 58-year-old, now of Enville Place in Stourbridge, Birmingham, who subsequently remained silent when interviewed by detectives.
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Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, described how the devices were then analysed and found to contain 625 indecent images in category A, those showing the most serious forms of child abuse. This vile collection, which had been amassed over a period of more than four years, included a total of 292 videos.
A further 1,785 category B images, including 89 videos, and a staggering 142,644 category C images, including 122 videos, were also located on the electronics. Smith was then questioned for a second time and again gave no comment.
Robert Wyn Jones, defending, told the court that his client had replied “yes, it’s me” after being detained and had since undertaken courses with child protection charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation. He added: “He has never intended to dispute any of this. He explained to me that he wanted to go on these courses as quickly as possible after his arrest because he wanted to address his issues and understand why he did what he did.
“He explained going deeper and deeper into this hole and losing count of how many images he had downloaded. You clearly have before you someone who is deeply remorseful and has made determined steps to address his problems and taken the difficult step of facing up to his family and the people who he loves to what he did.”
Mr Wyn Jones said Smith had “lost his job and lost his marriage” after his crimes were revealed. The father-of-two was then said to have gained a new job with Tesco before resigning from this role when he was told by the police to inform his employer of the proceedings against him.
The defence counsel added: “His children are aged 14 and 16. He has lost contact with them. He hopes, in time, to be able to build bridges with them.
“He has medical issues. There is a fear that he may have a hole in his heart. There is a great deal of personal mitigation. His mother is 82 and is very much reliant on him.”
Smith admitted possession of indecent images of children and three counts of making indecent images. He was handed an 18-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months, 200 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days.
Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said he had amassed an “appalling, sickening and quite staggering collection” of illegal pictures and videos and added: “The number of images involved is enormous. Sadly, although this court typically sees fewer images, it is not without this court’s experience to see very large numbers of images being collected by people involved in activity such as this, such as you.
“There are plenty of judges who would regard this offending as being so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence is deserved. You could not complain if I sent you to prison today, but I am not going to do that.
“There is mitigation available to you. You have no previous convictions. You have worked all of your life. The consequences for you for this behaviour have been, not surprisingly, catastrophic. It has effectively ended your marriage, it has damaged your relationship with your young children and you have lost your job. You have worked hard to understand why you committed these offences.
“It may well be that you perhaps should count yourself fortunate that you are not going immediately to prison today. It seems to me that there is a more constructive approach, one which I hope will ensure that you will not commit any offence like this in the future.”
Smith was also subjected to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. He will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register for the next decade.
