June 2015 Man blamed jury duty trauma for him downloading nearly 7,000 indecent images of children – jailed A 59-year-old west Suffolk man who claimed the trauma of jury duty had led to him downloading nearly 7,000 of indecent images of children has been jailed David Backler, of Stanton Place, Haverhill, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment by Ipswich Crown Court. He had previously admitted five charges of making indecent images of children. These included still images and 383 movies. Nearly 600 of the photos and films were at Level A – the most serious grading for indecent images of children, while more than 5,000 were at Level C – the least serious category. The former sales director was arrested on August 14 after a National Crime Agency operation, codenamed Bain. Suffolk Constabulary were alerted to the file sharing of images which was traced to Backler. After his arrest his computer and three other devices were examined, as well as disks which were found during a search of his home. At Backler’s plea hearing before the same court it was said that he had sat as a juror in the 1990s and never got over the shock. He had begun looking at indecent images of children as a result. There was no suggestion Backler had distributed any of the images he had downloaded. May 2015 Paedophile blames jury service for possession of child abuse images A man from Haverhill collected indecent images of children because he had been traumatised while serving on jury duty, a court has heard. David Backler, 59, of Stanton Place, appeared on Friday at Ipswich Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to five offences of possessing indecent images and movies of children. Prosecuting, Stephen Rose said the charges related to the time leading up to August 14 last year, when Backler had been arrested. Analysis revealed 4,000 separate images had been obtained and stored by Backler. Mr Rose said there was no suggestion that Backler had been involved in distributing the images. The court heard that Backler told police that he served as a juror in a trial at Ipswich Crown Court in the 1990s and “just never got over the shock” of what he saw and had started collecting indecent images of children. Mitigating, Archie McKay said Backler had no previous convictions. He had indicated that he would be pleading guilty to all the charges at the earliest opportunity. Judge Martyn Levett warned Backler that the volume of material made it was a “very serious matter.” Judge Levett said all sentencing options would remain open until Backler returned to court to be sentenced on May 22. Backler, who was ordered to sign the sexual offenders’ register, will continue to be granted bail until his next court appearance.