DANIEL GILBERT OF PETERBOROUGH SENTENCED FOR CHILD AND ANIMAL INDECENT IMAGES
In June 2010, a disturbing case involving a local plumber from Peterborough came to light when Daniel Gilbert, aged 29, was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of possessing a large collection of indecent images depicting children and animals.The court proceedings revealed the extent of Gilbert's disturbing online activities, which included over 2,000 illicit images and videos.
Gilbert, who resides on John Bird Walk in the Farcet area of Peterborough, was brought before Peterborough Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to indecent images.
These charges included two counts of making indecent images of children, two counts of possession of such images, and four counts of possessing extreme pornographic material.
The images and videos involved teenage girls under the age of 16, as well as various animals, including dogs, cows, horses, and even a mackerel, highlighting the disturbing nature of his collection.
Judge Neil McKittrick, presiding over the case, described Gilbert as “perverted in his attitude to human life, animal life and normal sexual attitudes,” emphasizing the severity of his actions.
The prosecution, led by Craig McDougall, detailed that Gilbert had admitted to viewing these illicit images for a period of five years.
The police investigation began in November 2008 when detectives started monitoring Gilbert’s internet activity.
In June of the following year, authorities executed a warrant at his residence, during which Gilbert directed officers to his laptop.
During questioning, Gilbert claimed that he had no involvement with children beyond viewing the images and denied ever approaching or attempting to contact minors.
The court learned that Gilbert possessed a total of 1,399 extreme pornographic images, which included both animals and humans.
Additionally, he had 732 photographs and videos classified at the lowest level of the copine scale, with 16 at level two, 43 at level three, and 97 at level four, the second highest level of severity.
These figures underscore the disturbing nature of his collection and the potential harm associated with such material.
In delivering the sentence, Judge McKittrick emphasized the broader implications of such crimes, stating, “It does not matter where the abuse took place.
All it means is that somewhere in the world children are being maltreated, humiliated and abused to give gratification to people like you.
I view this as a bad case of its type.” As part of his punishment, Gilbert was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for a period of ten years and was prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with children indefinitely.
Furthermore, the court ordered that Gilbert’s computer be destroyed to prevent further access to such material, highlighting the seriousness with which the court viewed his offenses.
