ANDREW PRICE AVOIDS JAIL AFTER ONLINE CHILD ABUSE BREACH
A pervert has landed back in court after breaching the terms of his suspended sentence - just one day after he was convicted.Andrew Price was caught browsing the web and deleting his history between August 23, 2023, and September 22, 2023.
The 55-year-old dad, of Rookery Road, Kidsgrove, was originally convicted on August 22, 2023, after officers discovered he had downloaded more than 700 indecent images of children.
The horrific stash included category A, category B and category C images.
The material depicted children as young as three years old, with the majority featuring girls aged six to 12.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he used Fireman Sam character Naughty Norm as a nickname.
Price was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, along with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
This meant he was not allowed to access the internet or delete his search history without notifying police.
However, brazen Price continued his online activities - until he received a surprise visit from Staffordshire Police.
Prosecutor Barry White said: “Officers went to his address and asked to see his computer tower.
He claimed it didn’t have internet access and that it was only used for playing offline games.
However, when police checked the computer, they discovered it was connected to the internet with web browsing deletion software installed.
The defendant claimed he didn’t know how this worked.
He said he thought it was for deleting browser cookies.
Father-of-two Price was discovered to have deleted 2,304 search records, mainly relating to adult content.
However, some search terms included ‘child porn’ and ‘0-17 years of age’.
Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said that Price had committed ‘a breach that falls just short of a reasonable excuse’.
He added that the defendant had strictly obeyed the terms of his SHPO ever since.
Price was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, along with 100 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation days.
He was also ordered to pay £300 in court costs.
Recorder Robert Smith said: “You had and probably still have a level of attraction to children.”
