DAVID TAYLOR FROM BARROW JAILED FOR CHILD INDECENT IMAGES OFFENSES

In August 2013, a man from Barrow, identified as David Taylor, was sentenced to 16 months in prison after being found guilty of possessing and creating a vast collection of indecent images of children. The case came to light when Taylor, 65, of School Street, Barrow, inadvertently revealed one of these images to a friend during a visit to his flat. The friend, alarmed by what he saw, promptly reported the incident to the police authorities.

Following the report, law enforcement officials from Preston Crown Court launched an investigation into Taylor’s activities. During the police search of his residence, they seized his computer equipment and other electronic devices. It was discovered that Taylor had accessed and stored more than 13,500 indecent images of children, with the material spanning from February 2010 to April of the previous year. A significant portion of these images and video clips had been deleted, likely in an attempt to conceal his activities, but enough remained to establish the extent of his offending.

The images depicted children whose ages appeared to range from as young as three years old to around 12 years old. The police analysis revealed that over 11,000 of these images fell into the lowest severity category, known as level one, which indicates less explicit material. However, there were also images and videos at higher levels of severity, indicating more explicit content.

During police interviews, Taylor admitted that he had come across a chat room where an image appeared on his screen. He claimed to have shown this image to his friend during the visit. According to Taylor, the image was possibly a live broadcast from Russia, and he believed the girl depicted was between 16 and 18 years old. This statement was part of his attempt to explain how he came into possession of such material.

Representing Taylor in court, Gareth James, his defense lawyer, acknowledged that Taylor recognized the gravity of his actions and accepted that his behavior was entirely unacceptable. James emphasized that Taylor understood he was responsible for his own misconduct and expressed remorse for his actions. The lawyer also provided some context, stating that Taylor had previously worked at the Barrow shipyard, where it was common among workers to pass around magazines of a more adult nature. He suggested that in recent years, Taylor had moved on to other sources of such material and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Judge Heather Lloyd delivered the sentence, condemning Taylor’s actions and the exploitation of children depicted in the images. She stated, “Each child in the still or moving image which you have seen has been taken, used and abused into performing sexual acts against their will for profit, for the sexual gratification of those performing the acts and for the sexual gratification of men like you, probably feeling safe and secure in your own home, not thinking you will ever be caught.”

As part of his sentence, Taylor was ordered to register as a sex offender and will be subject to a sexual offences prevention order, ensuring ongoing monitoring of his activities to prevent further offending.