A paedophile who had a “horrendous relapse” and downloaded more than 1,000 images of children has been jailed for 16 months.
Paul Michael Berry (62) had previously been imprisoned in 2019 for indecent image offences.
He was arrested again last February, with police officers seizing 14 devices – two of which were found to contain indecent material.
Appearing before the Royal Court yesterday, Berry was told that, given his previous offending, only a custodial sentence could be imposed.
Delivering the court’s decision, Deputy Bailiff Mark Temple, presiding, said: “The court is most concerned that he [Berry] is back for very similar offences [to those from 2019] and believes only custody can properly reflect this offending.”
Crown Advocate Lauren Taylor, prosecuting, told the court that there were 1,104 images of children aged under 16 classed as category C, including 11 videos, plus three images of the more serious category B.
Advocate Darry Robinson, defending, said Berry’s current offences stemmed from a two-month period in which Berry had what his lawyer described as a “massive, horrendous relapse”.
As well as imposing a 16-month jail term, the court also made Berry the subject of a range of measures and restrictions around the Sex Offenders Register and his future use of the internet for a minimum of seven years, as well as ordering that the devices seized should be destroyed, with a further order to pay costs in the sum of £3,000.
Jurats Averty and Ronge were sitting.
