October 2012 Barry man jailed for possessing indecent images and extreme porn A BARRY man was this week jailed for eight months, after pleading guilty to possessing more than 160 indecent images of children and 3,800 extreme pornographic images. Simon Haggett, of Brookfield Avenue, appeared at Newport Crown Court on Monday (October 15) for sentencing, after he admitted downloading, possessing and distributing the images. The court heard that when police searched his home on December 21 last year, they found computers, memory cards, hard drives and other storage devices that contained the images. Jason Howells, prosecuting, told the court that Haggett was found to have 103 Level 1 images of children (with Level 5 being the most extreme), five at Level 2, 38 at Level 3, and 20 at Level 4. He was also found to have 3,815 extreme pornographic images, featuring humans and animals. Haggett, 48, told police he had no interest in the material and that he had accessed the adult websites for ‘trolling’ purposes, so that he could ‘wind up and lead on’ those who were interested. But the court also heard that he had communicated in chat rooms with people who were interested in paedophilia, and that he had distributed one Level 3 image twice Susan Ferrier, in mitigation, said that Haggett was previously of good character and had ‘lost everything’ since the investigation began. “It has caused this man to lose his family, his job, his good reputation, his previous good character and the family home where they all lived,” she added. “This man has lost everything, and started to accept that there is a problem that can be worked with.” His Honour Judge Neil Bidder QC said: “The distribution of the images of children is the most serious offence at Level 3, and the picture that emerges from that conduct is that you were forming email relationships with people who were interested in paedophilia, and exchanging emails discussing paedophilia with them. “Certainly, you were in contact with a person the police could recall to be deeply involved in active paedophilia.” He added: “In my judgment these offences are so significant, because of the extent and degree of communication with other persons interested in paedophilia, that I want to impose a custodial sentence.” He was jailed for eight months, and will serve the second half of the sentence on licence. He must register as a sex offender for five years, was banned from using any device capable of accessing the internet or storing images, and banned from having contact with anyone under the age of 16.