ALBAN FELLOWS AND STEPHEN ARNOLD: CHILD PORNOGRAPHY SCANDAL IN MILTON KEYNES AND MOSELEY

In a case that has sent shockwaves through the academic and local communities, Alban Fellows, a research assistant at the University of Birmingham residing on Wake Green Road in Moseley, has been sentenced to serve a total of three years in prison—two years for possessing indecent photographs and an additional year to be served consecutively—after admitting to four charges related to the possession of child pornography.

His co-defendant, Stephen Arnold, aged 24 and hailing from Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, received a six-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to distributing indecent photographs. Both men faced serious charges under the Protection of Children Act and the Obscene Publications Act, marking what is believed to be the first case of its kind involving the distribution of child pornography via the Internet.

The court proceedings revealed disturbing details about the activities of Fellows, who was employed as a research assistant within the plasma melting unit at the University of Birmingham. He had privileged access to the university’s main computer system, a position that allowed him to manipulate and install additional hardware. Unbeknownst to university authorities, Fellows secretly attached a hard disk to the main computer, creating a clandestine library of pornography, which he named 'Melbourne Inman.'

Prosecutors described this library as a highly restricted collection of explicit material, including indecent images of children. The court was told that access to this library was tightly controlled; only trusted individuals with a special 'library ticket' could view its contents. Fellows was the gatekeeper of this collection, and access was granted only after a vetting process, often requiring a fellow ticket holder to vouch for the requester. This system was designed to limit access to a select group of trusted individuals, but it also facilitated the distribution of illegal material.

Fellows was charged with possessing four indecent images of children, which he intended to distribute, along with two obscene images of adults stored on his computer's hard disk. The investigation also uncovered that Fellows had shared these images with Arnold, who was employed as a graphics co-ordinator at Hughes Network Systems Limited in Milton Keynes. Between February and April 1994, Arnold was accused of distributing three of the indecent images of children to Fellows via his computer.

Both men denied all allegations during the court proceedings. The police had arrested Fellows at Birmingham University in April 1994, seizing his hard disk and confirming his admission of possessing pornography. Similarly, Arnold was detained at his Milton Keynes office in September 1994, where authorities copied files from his computer.

The evidence presented indicated that the images downloaded by Arnold were copies taken from 'Lolita,' a notorious pornographic magazine that included indecent pictures of children. The two men communicated through coded email messages, discussing the images and their distribution. Prosecutors highlighted that Arnold was granted access to the library after providing photographs, which facilitated the exchange of illegal material.

In a message sent in March 1994, Fellows reportedly sent Arnold an email after receiving copies of the photographs, with the content making it clear what was being shared. The case underscores the disturbing extent of online child exploitation and the risks posed by individuals with access to university computer systems, raising serious questions about security and oversight in academic institutions.