"Lonely" pensioner caught with over 2,000 child abuse images avoids prison

Police raided Charles Angus' home and seized two lap top devices in March 2023 which after examination showed to contain the illegal content.

Newcastle Crown Court heard a total of 2,032 images, which included still and moving, were found across categories A, B and C.

Angus, 69, of Helmsley Road, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

The court was told the offending took place between March 2020 and January 2023.

Mr Recorder David Gordon KC sentenced him to 12 months suspended for two years and told him it was a "fall from grace" due to his previous good character.

The recorder told Angus: "It is sometimes said that offending of this kind is criminal offending but without a victim.

"That is entirely untrue and offending of this sort will always be treated by the courts with the utmost seriousness.

"Each image of child sexual exploitation represents real harm to a real child in the real world and the act of possessing and downloading these images perpetuate a demand for the creation of more and that in turn fuels abuse and exploitation."

Angus was made subject to a six-month night-time curfew and will be made to sign the sex offender's register for ten years.

He was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years.

Glenn Gatland, defending, told the court the defendant suffered a stroke five years ago and now battles pulmonary fibrosis, a condition which affects the lungs.

Mr Gatland said: "He is a lonely man.

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"He has lived on his own for over 20 years in his flat. It is no excuse or justification for his behaviour but he says the reason, if there is a reason for this offending, is being on my own, drinking whiskey.

"(He) came across a site that frankly he became addicted to looking at which he shouldn't have done.

"He does acknowledge that very much and he acknowledges it was a serious error of judgment and he acknowledges he has a thinking skills deficit because he should never ever have done what he did.

"He is a man who is extremely unwell."

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