October 2014 Wirral pervert avoids jail sentence because of delay in police prosecution A paedophile caught with indecent images of children was spared an immediate jail sentence because of the “huge delay” in prosecuting him. Pervert James Townsend, 50, had more than 1,000 child abuse images when police raided his house on Gilbrook Square, Wallasey, in March 2012. Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, said it took Townsend five minutes to answer the door and police could see the “curtains twitching” while they waited. They took away a computer and found 1,074 indecent images. But Townsend was not brought to court for more than a year due to pressures within Merseyside Police’s computer crime unit and there were further delays because he pleaded not guilty before changing his mind as he was about to face trial. He eventually pleaded guilty to 15 counts of making indecent images and possession of indecent images of children. The court heard Townsend had been jailed for nine months in 2002 for similar offences. John O’Leary, defending, said his client “needed help”, adding: “Something needs to be done or children will be placed at risk.” Judge Stephen Everett, sentencing, said: “In this particular case there was a huge delay in bringing the case to court. “It is clear to me well over one year went by before any steps were taken in bringing you to court. “That is because of operational difficulties within the police section which dealt with identification of individuals. “The court of appeal has been very clear that delays caused which are not the fault of the defendant should be taken into account when assessing the length and type of sentence. “It would be wrong to ignore such a huge delay in this case. “Had you been sentenced two years ago you would have been sentenced to an immediate term of imprisonment. I have little doubt about that.” He sentenced jobless Townsend to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered him to attend the Northumbria sex offenders’ program. Townsend was also placed on the sex offenders register for ten years and given a sexual offences prevention order banning him from contacting children online or in person. Judge Everett, added: “It hardly needs to me to say how disgusting all of this is. “So often defendants come to this court and in their twisted minds believe they’ve done very little wrong in downloading these images but the harm is there for all to see. “What you do is encourage people like that to carry out these terrible acts on young children.”