COLCHESTER MAN CAUGHT WITH BESTIALITY IMAGES ON PHONE REFUSES TO FACE COURT
A PERVERT who was found with images of bestiality on his mobile phone “buried his head in the sand” by refusing to attend court for sentencing hearings.Ipswich Crown Court heard that 47-year-old Paul Stiles came to police attention in 2023 after they received information about him communicating with a girl called Jazz whom he believed to be 12 years old.
The court was told that Stiles used an app called RandoChat to speak to a decoy account.
Police searched his address in Tiptree last year and found a mobile device containing sexually explicit messages to the girl.
The phone also held images of bestiality and a Category A video showing a seven-year-old being sexually abused.
Stiles admitted to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, creating an indecent image of a child, and possessing an extreme pornographic image.
Despite being required to inform police of any change of address, he stayed at locations in Clacton and Colchester without notifying authorities, partly due to an attack by a neighbor.
He is diabetic with a prosthetic leg and had refused to appear for court proceedings, leading to a warrant for his arrest.
He later pleaded guilty to further charges of failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements and missing court.
Mitigation argued that Stiles was aware of his offending and that he was awaiting an operation to remove a cataract and was experiencing issues with his prosthetic leg.
The judge noted there was no real evidence he couldn’t attend court and accused him of 'burying his head in the sand.' A pre-sentence report suggested rehabilitation was possible, and thus he was sentenced to eight months in jail suspended for 18 months, with 26 rehabilitation sessions and a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.
