JOHN BLATCHFORD FROM HAMPSHIRE SENTENCED FOR DARK WEB GUIDE AT DARTMOOR PRISON

A Hampshire sex offender, John Blatchford, has seen his prison sentence extended after he authored a six-page manual for another inmate on how to access child abuse images via the dark web. While housed on a sex offenders' wing at Dartmoor Prison in Devon, Blatchford created the detailed blueprint, intended for a fellow prisoner soon to be released. The handwritten guide provided explicit instructions on how to reach the darkest corners of the internet and included names of illegal websites used for trading such harmful material, all while advising on ways to avoid police detection.

This act of creating and sharing the guide breached Blatchford's Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which prohibited him from discussing child sexual abuse with others, whether in person or online. Blatchford, 41, of Blackwater Mews in Totton, was already serving a six-year sentence for attempting to commit sexual offences against two girls aged seven and nine. The creation of this guide led to his additional sentencing.

Blatchford had also engaged in communication with a police officer posing as the father of two fictitious girls, during which he sent child abuse images, further illustrating his ongoing criminal behavior.

At Exeter Crown Court, Judge Paul Cook sentenced Blatchford to an extra 22 months in prison, stating, “This six-page document is a paedophile manual or blueprint of how to access images of children, with references to the dark web and how to avoid detection. The length of time it would have taken to write demonstrates your determination to commit offences and to encourage others to do the same. That is shown by the technical detail in this deeply disturbing document.”

Prosecutor Richard Crabb revealed that Blatchford had created the guide in 2017 and handed it to a friend about to leave Dartmoor. The discovery only occurred after the new offender manager grew suspicious of the friend’s behavior post-release and searched his home, where they found the document with Blatchford’s fingerprints confirming his authorship. Mr. Crabb emphasized, “This was a flagrant and deliberate attempt to assist another in accessing child abuse material and avoid detection. It is aggravated by the fact it was committed while in prison.”

Defence lawyer William Parkhill explained that the guide focused solely on accessing images and did not involve direct contact with children. He added that Blatchford wrote the guide while he was struggling with drug dependence on the prison premises and that he had voluntarily undertaken a sex offenders’ treatment program and was working to overcome his drug addiction.