DERICK HORNBY PRESTON ARMY VETERAN CAUGHT WITH THOUSANDS OF CHILD ABUSE IMAGES AND VIDEOS

In November 2020, a disturbing case emerged involving Derick Hornby, a 47-year-old former Army sergeant from Preston, whose reputation was severely damaged by revelations of his involvement in the possession and distribution of a vast collection of child abuse material. Hornby, who resided on Avenham Place in Newton, Preston, served his country with distinction for 25 years, but his personal conduct has now come under intense scrutiny.

Authorities uncovered thousands of horrifying videos and images depicting children being subjected to sexual abuse on his internet storage devices. The investigation revealed that Hornby had used the Kik Messenger application to share and download links to videos and pictures involving children as young as two years old being exploited by adults. Further examination of his devices uncovered links to Russian internet storage sites, which allowed anyone with access to these links to view the disturbing content.

Prosecutor David Clarke explained that the police investigation had reached a point where resource limitations prevented them from examining the entire collection, which was estimated to contain approximately 80,000 uncategorized images. Despite this, officers proceeded to analyze a significant portion—around 21 percent—identifying 240 images and 639 videos classified as Category A, the most severe under law. Additional material included 501 videos and 178 images categorized as Category B, along with 1,399 pictures and 162 videos in Category C. The investigation also uncovered 12 images depicting child abuse and 12 extreme images involving adults and animals.

Police officers executed a search warrant at Hornby’s residence following information about his internet activity and uploading of indecent images. During the search, Hornby admitted to using Kik Messenger but claimed his account had been closed. He also made an unsolicited remark, stating he had downloaded and watched a video that he recognized as wrong and had subsequently deleted it. His comment was, “Everyone shares stuff.”

Further examination of Hornby’s devices, including a Kindle and mobile phone, revealed access to a cloud storage account. The police investigation was extensive, taking several days to complete due to the sheer volume of data—approximately 260GB—downloaded from Hornby’s devices. The evidence indicated that the children depicted ranged in age from around two to approximately 13 years old, with at least one video exceeding 22 minutes in length.

During the court proceedings, Hornby’s defense attorney, Mr. Rawson, highlighted his client’s military background, noting that Hornby had experienced a career marked by witnessing death, destruction, and mutilation, which had left him with PTSD. It was also mentioned that Hornby was barred from continuing in the military reserves, as listed on his social media profile as being part of the 4th Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

Judge Graham Knowles QC sentenced Hornby to eight months in prison. Additionally, he ordered Hornby to register as a sex offender for ten years and prohibited him from working with children. The judge emphasized the severity of the case, citing the young ages of the victims, the high volume of images, the predominance of moving images, and Hornby’s active involvement in a network facilitating the creation and sharing of indecent material. The judge remarked that Hornby’s reasons for his actions were difficult to discern and stated that it was not possible to believe he lacked sexual interest in children, underscoring the gravity of the offense.