STEPHEN WAKELEY SENTENCED TO 10 MONTHS IN OXFORD COURT AS HE STRUGGLES TO BREATHE
In June 2021, medics were summoned to Oxford Crown Court after Stephen Wakeley, a 68-year-old convicted sex offender, experienced difficulty breathing while in the dock.During the sentencing hearing, Judge Nigel Daly informed Wakeley that he was to receive a 10-month prison sentence.
It was at this moment that Wakeley started hyperventilating.
The judge had not yet decided whether the sentence would be served immediately or suspended.
A dock officer removed Wakeley's mask and helped him to the floor, prompting the court to be cleared and medics to be called.
About an hour later, the proceedings resumed with Wakeley seated in the back of the dock.
Judge Daly sentenced Wakeley to 10 months in prison, explaining that he had considered suspending the sentence but ultimately decided against it.
The judge expressed concern that Wakeley had continued viewing indecent images of children despite his arrest.
He said, “You were not technically on bail but you knew full well the police were investigating your computers and you knew that they would find illegal indecent images of children and you went on committing offences.” Earlier in the case, Oxford Crown Court heard that Wakeley told police he possessed child sex abuse images to send to women on a dating website, claiming he wanted to "establish whether they were genuinely seeking a relationship".
He reportedly believed that if these women reacted with disgust, it would indicate they were not genuinely interested in a romantic connection.
Prosecutor Robert Lindsey stated, “He felt sending the images was a form of revenge against them.” Wakeley's first arrest occurred in 2018 when police raided his caravan near Garsington following information that he was uploading indecent images of children online.
Devices seized included his Acer laptop and an SD card, on which police discovered nearly 7,000 indecent images of children, including 995 in the most severe Category A.
Further investigation revealed Wakeley had installed software to access the dark web and had searched for the notorious 1960s cult Children of God, known for encouraging sex between children and adults.
He also viewed websites allegedly showing schoolchildren being sexually assaulted.
Although he was released under investigation, police returned to his residence within a year.
It was found that Wakeley had bought a laptop from Argos just two months after his initial arrest.
On this device, authorities found 292 indecent images of children, including 47 in Category A, 33 in Category B, and 212 in Category C.
The material included both images and videos, some depicting the rape of girls aged two to eleven.
Evidence suggested Wakeley had uploaded some images to Google Hangouts, a video conferencing platform, although it could not be confirmed that the images taken from his digital camera or computer screen had been shared.
Wakeley, of Alpha Avenue, Garsington, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to six counts of making indecent images of children.
He will serve half of his 10-month sentence before becoming eligible for release.
