July 2002 Lecturer spared jail over child porn A lecturer who downloaded nearly 5,000 indecent pictures of children has escaped a jail sentence because of prison overcrowding. Judge Warwick McKinnon told Dalwyn James Henshall the sheer volume and extreme nature of the pictures warranted a custodial sentence. But he told Henshall, 45, from Whitstable in Kent that he was taking into account his guilty plea as well as current problems with prison overcrowding and gave him to an 18-month suspended sentence. Henshall, who taught music at Canterbury Christ Church University College, admitted downloading 4,928 indecent images between 31 October 1999 and 9 December 2001. Judge Warwick McKinnon told Henshall: “You developed an interest in pornography at an early age and only recently in child pornography which coincided with a stressful time in your life at work. “These offences, in particular the discovery of them, have brought quite substantial punishment in themselves.” Maidstone Crown Court heard that Henshall had tried to commit suicide after being discovered and later admitted to police he was extremely ashamed. Defending, Charles Gratwicke told the court that his interest in child pornography began during a period of pressure and depression. Career in tatters His wife had been completely unaware of his obsession and the case had left his career in tatters. Mr Gratwicke added: “He has lost his job. He resigned from it and will not be able to teach at another school or college. “He has resigned his Ofsted accreditation plus he will need to retrain. His career is in total ruin.” He added that Henshall now wanted to move away from the area and was undergoing psychotherapy to with deal with his obsession. Sex Offenders’ Register Henshall will be put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years and was ordered to pay £450 costs and forfeit his computer. But the judge said Henshall’s life’s work, a violin concerto and sonata he had composed and which was on the computer, could be returned. A spokeswoman for Canterbury Christ Church University said : “He (Henshall) started working for the college in 1992. “He was on sick leave from September 2001. The college received his letter of resignation at the end of February 2002.”