PHILIP FAWCETT'S SHOCKING PAEDOPHILE CRIMES IN LANCASTER REVEALED

In November 2016, a disturbing case emerged involving Philip Fawcett, a 48-year-old piano tutor from Lancaster, who admitted to harboring disturbing fantasies about young girls. Despite his profession, which involved teaching children music in their homes, Fawcett’s secret online activities revealed a much darker side.

Fawcett was found to have uploaded a total of 60 posts and poems, each approximately 1,500 words long, to a paedophile website under the alias 'English Perv.' These writings included explicit discussions of his depraved desires, which he shared with other like-minded individuals on the internet. The court heard that Fawcett used hundreds of images depicting children aged between five and 15 years old as inspiration for his stories, further illustrating the extent of his disturbing interests.

On January 28, 2016, officers from Lancashire Constabulary executed a search warrant at Fawcett’s residence in Lancaster. During the raid, they seized a laptop and several memory sticks. Forensic analysis of these devices uncovered a horrifying collection of illegal material, including 215 Category A images—among them 11 video clips—250 Category B images, 160 Category C images, and a total of 595 prohibited images of children. These findings confirmed the severity of Fawcett’s possession of illegal content.

Following his arrest, Fawcett admitted to having been active on the paedophile website since 2012, with his last use occurring just two weeks prior to his detention. He revealed that he had worked as a piano teacher for 25 years and confessed that he had been sexually attracted to children for the past decade. Despite these disturbing urges, the court was informed that Fawcett had not acted on his desires with any of the children he taught, which was a crucial point in the proceedings.

During sentencing, Recorder Guy Mathieson expressed his condemnation of Fawcett’s actions. He highlighted the hypocrisy and horror of the case, noting that while Fawcett was secretly indulging in his depravity, he was simultaneously entering children’s homes to teach them music. The judge described Fawcett’s online activities as a series of sickening articles and poems that glorified paedophilia, explicitly detailing what he would do to children and further disseminating these depraved ideas over the internet.

Fawcett pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including three counts of making indecent images, one of possessing indecent images, one of possessing prohibited images, and six counts of publishing obscene material. The court was told that his online activities and the images he possessed demonstrated a serious breach of trust and a profound threat to community safety.

In his sentencing remarks, the judge acknowledged the need to balance punishment with societal interests. He stated, “Your offending is serious enough to cross the custody threshold not only in terms of the images but also in respect of the delight expressed in these articles. I make no bones about it: I take the view that for your offending you should go to prison.” However, he also expressed concern that incarceration might not benefit society as a whole upon Fawcett’s release.

As a result, Fawcett was sentenced to a three-year community order. He was also ordered to complete a sex offenders’ rehabilitation program, sign the sex offenders register for five years, and undertake a 60-day rehabilitation activity requirement. Additionally, he was banned from working with children, reflecting the court’s recognition of the ongoing risk he poses to the community.