November 2013 Paedophile pleads guilty to breaking sex offenders order A CONVICTED paedophile from Barrow has appeared in court. Craig Michael Birkett, of Telford Steet, Barrow, appeared in Furness Magistrates’ Court today charged when three counts of breaching a sex offenders order. Birkett, 30, was been found with a laptop, using the internet without monitoring software and having a smartphone. He pleaded guilty to all three counts. As a convicted sex offender Birkett was banned from owning a smartphone and using the internet without monitoring software. The offences were committed while Birkett was on licence. On May 28 2010 Birkett pleaded guilty to 24 counts of downloading child pornography in Carlisle Crown Court. He will appear before Preston Crown Court on December 13. May 2010 CUMBRIAN PORN MAN SPARED PRISON ‘FOR TREATMENT’ A Cumbrian hotel porter who developed an obsession with child pornography has walked free from a court – because it was the only way a judge could ensure he gets treatment for his problem. Carlisle Crown Court heard how Craig Birkett, 29, amassed a huge collection indecent images of children on his home computer. He also appeared to have an interest for pictures of people in nappies, the court heard. His wife Stephanie, 30, turned a blind eye to his perversion, despite having looked at some of the pictures on his computer. At an earlier court hearing, Craig Birkett pleaded guilty to 24 counts of downloading child porn – a total of 5,769 indecent images, including 329 classified as level 5, the most serious and 769 at level 4. Stephanie Birkett admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children. As she passed sentence, Judge Barbara Forrester said that Craig Birkett’s offences were so serious that they merited a jail term but strict sentencing guidelines meant she could impose no more than 16 months custody. Given the time he had already spent in jail on remand, he would be free in two months and the court would be unable to order that he undergoes treatment. The only way that could happen, said the judge, was if she imposed a community supervision order, lasting 36 months, and including a stipulation that he attends a course aimed at rehabilitating sex offenders. The judge said she wanted to pass a sentence aimed at protecting the community. “These type of offences create feelings of anger and hatred in the community,” she said, “everybody needs to understand the courts’ hands are tied to a large extent when sentencing cases of this sort.” Alan Lovett, prosecuting, said the offences came to light when staff at the south Cumbrian hotel where Birkitt worked found an “inappropriate image” of a young girl. When police visited the couple’s home, at Hallgarth Circle, Kendal, they found the walls plastered with pornographic pictures, many laminated and some showing people who were wearing nappies. On his computer, they found hundreds of child porn images, some featuring children as young as five. Stephanie Birkett was charged on the basis that she viewed three child pornography images on the computer, one of them a level 4. She neither deleted them nor told anybody about them, said Mr Lovett. Greg Hoare, for Craig Birkett, said his client became obsessive about the images and felt a degree of relief when he was caught. Gareth James, for Stephanie Birkett, said she was a vulnerable person, who lacked in self confidence. She too was given a 36-month supervision order. Both defendants were placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years and banned from working with children. Judge Forrester added that people who downloaded child pornography fuel child abuse, ensuring there are more victims. “It’s totally unacceptable,” she said.