ANDREW WHITE FROM CAMBRIDGE HAS HIS SENTENCE REDUCED ON APPEAL

In January 2015, a Cambridge man named Andrew Mark White, aged 43 and residing at The Rowans, Milton, had his prison sentence shortened following an appeal. White had amassed nearly 450,000 indecent images of children over a period of ten years, some of which were of the most degrading and violent types. These images, which included sadistic and violent content, were discovered after police officers raided his home in Cambridgeshire.

White was initially sentenced to two years in prison at Cambridge Crown Court last June but challenged this sentence, claiming it was excessively harsh. Three senior judges at London's Appeal Court reviewed the case and upheld his appeal, calling the original sentence "manifestly excessive." They reduced his incarceration to 16 months—a reduction of one-third.

Mr. Justice Turner, who presided over the case, stated that White had no prior convictions when police executed a search warrant on October 23, 2013. He was cooperative during the investigation and admitted to downloading the type of images the police were seeking. Officers seized an external hard drive and a laptop, which contained the vast collection of images, including indecent stills, videos, and explicit cartoons. While most of these images were at the lowest level of severity, 61 were classified at the highest level.

The court was informed that White had developed his collection over a five to ten-year span. Despite the severity of his actions, the judge highlighted White’s previous good character, his diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), his apparent remorse, and efforts to address his behavior.

At the time of the investigation, White was also found to have searched Facebook for pictures of girls as young as 11, stored in a folder labeled ‘Too Young,’ driven by an attraction to skinny women. His defense lawyer, Richard Gowthorpe, explained that White's OCD contributed to his behavior. Judge Hawkesworth noted that White’s remorse appeared genuine and expressed a belief in his desire to change. As part of his sentence, White was also ordered to comply with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).

Earlier, in June 2014, White, then aged 42, was jailed for similar offenses after police uncovered his extensive collection of objectionable images. White admitted to possessing nearly half a million such images, which included graphic and sadistic abuse, and seeking young girls on Facebook.

White had contacted a general practitioner seeking help for his addiction but claimed to the doctor that he was suffering from depression. When police investigated, he willingly led them to his collection. The police found 46,959 indecent images on a hard drive, including 46 at the most serious level, and hundreds of thousands more images and videos stored on his devices.

Both court cases revealed White’s pattern of searching for and storing images of young girls, with authorities noting his preference for slim young females. White was consequently sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to five charges involving possession and making indecent images of children, which his lawyer characterized as stemming from an addiction problem. Judge Gareth Hawkesworth acknowledged his remorse but noted the presence of images involving penetrative acts and violence.

Overall, White’s legal proceedings reflected the serious nature of his offenses, balanced against his attempts at remorse and treatment, leading to the reduction of his sentence on appeal.