MARTYN GARDINER FROM IPSWICH SENTENCED OVER MASSIVE CHILD INDECENT IMAGE COLLECTION

In February 2019, Martyn Gardiner, an Inland Revenue employee from Ipswich, was sentenced after being found with over 30,000 indecent images of children. Gardiner, aged 52 and residing on Holcombe Crescent, was arrested in November 2017 when police executed a search warrant at his home. During the search, officers seized a tower unit and a USB stick, which contained a total of 3,165 indecent images at the most severe level A, including 135 movies; additionally, they found 3,397 images and 91 movies classified as level B, along with 27,332 images and 911 movies in level C.

Gardiner pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing 1,000 extreme pornographic images. Ipswich Crown Court heard that he was a self-described "sex addict." Judge handed him a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered him to participate in a 40-day rehabilitation program and complete 200 hours of unpaid work. Gardiner was also required to pay £1,000 in costs. Furthermore, he was placed under a sexual harm prevention order and mandated to register as a sex offender.