SHAUN BRADBURN IN LEIGH AVOIDS JAIL AFTER SECOND CHILD ABUSE IMAGE OFFENCE

In August 2014, Shaun Bradburn, a 53-year-old man from Leigh, was spared immediate imprisonment after admitting to child abuse image offences for the second time. At Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Andrew Menary, QC, acknowledged that although the offences merited a prison term, it would only be for a short duration. He remarked, “You show a worrying lack of insight into your behaviour in your pre-sentence report and it seems to me society would be best protected by requiring you to undergo further rigorous supervision.” The judge also noted that despite Bradburn’s wife having left him, he remains employed and supports her and their son, which could be impacted if he were jailed. Consequently, Bradburn was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, and placed under supervision for the same period. He was ordered to attend the Northumbria Sex Offenders Programme, sign the Sex Offenders Register for ten years, and was subjected to a lifelong Sexual Offences Prevention Order restricting his internet access. Judge Menary commented that although Bradburn had previously participated in sex offender group work, he had “drifted back into reprehensible behaviour of this sort.” Bradburn, residing on The Avenue in Leigh, pleaded guilty to a total of 18 offences. These included 16 counts of downloading indecent images of children, three of which were in the most serious categories, involving minors aged five to 17. He also admitted to distributing two indecent images and possessing a total of 633 child pornography images. Prosecutor Peter Barr stated that police raided Bradburn’s Wigan home in January of the previous year after discovering he had been emailing another man in Wiltshire about indecent child images. The authorities seized his laptop and two storage devices, which forensic analysis revealed contained 633 images, 431 of which were in the least serious category. Chat logs showed exchanges with other individuals regarding such material, and at least one instance of image distribution was noted. Defense lawyer Geoffrey Lowe acknowledged, “Although most images were in the lowest category, the defendant accepts such offences involved children being sexually exploited for the gratification of others.” Earlier in July 2014, Bradburn had also pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse images for the second time, with charges relating to downloading indecent images, some in the most serious categories involving children aged five to 17. The 52-year-old admitted to 18 offences, including distributing two images and possessing 416 child porn photos. He was remanded on bail pending sentencing scheduled for August 15, during which a pre-sentence report was to be prepared. His solicitor requested a psychiatric assessment, but Judge Mark Brown decided it was unnecessary due to Bradburn's prior relevant conviction and partial participation in rehabilitation programs.