PHILLIP KENDALL FROM ORFORD SENTENCED IN MANCHESTER FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AFTER A HISTORY OF POSSESSING INDECENT IMAGES

In December 2018, Phillip Kendall of Sandy Lane, Orford, was handed a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a young girl, despite having previously avoided jail for possessing hundreds of indecent images of minors.

Kendall was convicted at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday of four counts of sexual assault, including touching, with the offenses having occurred between 2015 and 2016 when the girl was under 13.

The case revealed that in December 2016, police executing a search warrant at his residence in Hood Manor uncovered over 600 indecent images. Among these, a hard drive contained three category A indecent videos showing girls as young as eight. Additionally, 611 category B images of girls as young as 10 were found on his computer.

Previously, Kendall, then aged 37, narrowly avoided a six-month jail term after being found with these images. Instead, he received a three-year community order that included a supervision requirement.

In a related incident in August 2017, Kendall’s offending was again addressed when police raided his home on Stratton Road, discovering the same extensive collection of indecent images of children as young as eight. At that time, he was identified as responsible for the images through police interviews.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of making indecent photographs of children and possession of such images during an earlier hearing. Judge Robert Warnock remarked that Kendall could face a jail sentence of up to six months, yet he was ultimately sentenced to a three-year community order with supervision.

The court heard that Kendall’s actions contributed to the breakdown of his marriage. However, he was also described as “slowly beginning to turn his life around,” having secured new employment and a home.

Judge Warnock emphasized the seriousness of the offenses, stating: “Let me make one point absolutely clear—these images and the viewing of them by people like you promote child abuse. That’s why this is a serious criminal offense and the custodial threshold has been passed in your case. My interest is to prevent this type of offense from continuing and to protect children from abuse. The best way to do this, in my view, is not to put you straight into custody.”

Kendall, who has a previous unrelated conviction from 2001, was ordered to serve a five-year sexual harm prevention order and notification requirement, pay £240 in court costs, along with a victim surcharge. The court also ordered that his computer be forfeited and destroyed.