DAVID ALLISON OF OTTERSWAY SENTENCED FOR HOARDING OVER 500,000 CHILD INDECENT IMAGES IN GUILDFORD
A man from Ottershaw has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of accumulating a massive collection of indecent images of children.David Allison, 48, of Moat Court, Shaw Close, was convicted at Guildford Crown Court last Friday, January 26, after admitting to three counts of making indecent images of a child, one count of photographing a child, and two counts of voyeurism by installing recording equipment or modifying structures.
Police executed an intelligence-led search warrant at Allison’s residence on November 29 of the previous year.
During the raid, they recovered over 500,000 indecent images depicting children of various ages from his computer equipment.
The images included 5,038 classified as category A—the most severe level—8,693 as category B, and 84,300 as category C.
The court was told that the vast quantity of images was so large that authorities had yet to review them all since the arrest.
Allison used multiple devices to take his photographs, including a traditional camera, a camera pen, and an iPad.
Court records revealed that he once left his camera sticking out of a bag while recording, and images captured included one where he reportedly placed the camera where it could film inside a school.
Prosecutor Lee Harris noted, “He would put it in a camera bag with the camera poking out the top and leave it in a place where it could film in the school.
It was premeditated and the stills were opportunist.
There was one picture in particular of a person getting changed in a school classroom.” During the sentencing hearing via video link from HMP High Down, Allison sat with his head bowed throughout most of the proceedings.
Prosecutor Harris stated, “He accepted he was responsible for downloading the images and also admitted he recently accessed a live streaming website but felt he was crossing a line.
He kept the images and movies on a single hard drive and once said he would draw a line in it and then shred the disc.” Judge Robert Fraser summarized, “It is very clear no-one knew what you were doing.
This was by a very clear description very concerning.” Defense lawyer Sarah Read expressed remorse, saying, “Allison, a former teacher, fully understands he needs to be punished.
He is deeply ashamed and disgusted with himself and is aware of the far-reaching impact on those affected.
There will have been many people who benefited from him positively, and he knows those people will be shocked to see where he is now.” In addition to his prison sentence, Allison was issued a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and will be on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.
