HEDLEY HEDDISON SENTENCED IN LINCOLN FOR CHILD INDECENCY IMAGES NEAR EAGLE MOOR

A man identified as Hedley Heddison has been sentenced to two years in prison after admitting to the creation and distribution of indecent images involving minors. Heddison, aged 54 and residing at Eight Row, Eagle Moor near Lincoln, was apprehended following a police investigation that uncovered disturbing online activity.

Authorities became aware of Heddison’s illicit communications through WhatsApp, where he engaged in sexualised conversations with another individual. This led to a deeper investigation into his digital activities, revealing a disturbing collection of images depicting children in various states of abuse. Many of these images were classified as Category A, indicating the most severe level of indecency, including photographs of very young children. The court was informed that Heddison also possessed images of infants, further highlighting the severity of his offences.

His arrest took place at a ferry port in Scotland in January 2023, after police had placed a marker on his lorry to monitor his movements. During subsequent interviews, Heddison admitted to possessing the illicit material but claimed that his motivation was not sexual gratification from the images themselves. Instead, he stated that he derived pleasure from sharing these images with other WhatsApp users.

Heddison faced multiple charges, including three counts of making indecent images of children, three counts of distributing such images, one count of possessing 13 extreme images, and one count of publishing extreme material. In total, he confessed to creating 92 images in the most serious Category A, along with 86 images in Category B and 123 images in Category C. Regarding distribution, he admitted to sharing 30 Category A images, 28 Category B images, and 39 Category C images.

His legal representative, Tom Heath, stated that Heddison had taken steps to seek professional help to address his issues. Mr. Heath acknowledged that his client recognized there was a problem and expressed remorse, noting that the stigma associated with these crimes would likely persist long after the case concludes.

When passing sentence, Judge Simon Hirst acknowledged the defendant’s efforts to seek help but emphasized that the nature of the offences warranted a custodial sentence. The judge concluded that, given the gravity of the images involved, only imprisonment was appropriate in this case.