DAVID CARR'S RE-OFFENSE IN MURTON: COURT STRUGGLES WITH PERSISTENT CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENDER

In February 2023, David Carr, a man from Murton, found himself once again in the dock at Durham Crown Court, facing serious allegations related to his continued violation of court-imposed restrictions and possession of indecent images of children. The proceedings revealed a troubling pattern of behavior that spanned several years, despite previous interventions and court orders aimed at curbing his actions.

Carr’s latest appearance was prompted by a series of breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) that had been initially imposed in October 2018. This order was a response to his earlier conviction for possessing a large collection of indecent and prohibited images of children, which police had discovered on devices retrieved from his home in Murton in 2016. The court had, at that time, opted for a suspended sentence, hoping that with the support of the Probation Service, Carr could address his entrenched behavior and avoid further offending.

However, the court was informed that during a routine monitoring visit to Carr’s residence on Woods Terrace on October 19 of the previous year, police uncovered a disturbing array of electronic devices capable of internet access. Carr had failed to disclose the existence of these devices, which included 17 hard drives and laptops. Further investigation revealed that Carr had used a covert internet browser and cloud storage services to conceal his activities. Examination of three of these hard drives uncovered a total of 60 indecent images of children, with 29 classified as the most serious category. Additionally, police found 553 prohibited images and 78 images categorized as “extreme pornography,” depicting scenes of bestiality.

Prosecutor Andrew Finlay explained that 443 of these illicit images were accessible and had been downloaded between 2007 and 2010, predating the images involved in Carr’s 2018 conviction. When police returned to arrest Carr on November 10, he was asked if he possessed a mobile phone; he handed over a device that was found to contain an internet browsing history dating back to October 2021. It was also revealed that Carr had asked a relative for assistance with a SIM card, and the phone had been in use since August 2022, despite his previous claims to police that he did not own a phone.

During police interviews, Carr remained silent in response to questions. Later, before magistrates, the 44-year-old admitted to four breaches of the 2018 SHPO, as well as possession of indecent and prohibited images of children, along with extreme pornographic material. Judge Kidd noted that despite the age of the images discovered last October, Carr’s ability to retrieve them indicated a continued and deliberate engagement with such material, which she described as an “aggravating feature” of the case. She emphasized that Carr had continued to search for images of children from 2019 onward, including in 2022, despite the court’s previous intervention.

The judge highlighted that Carr had been given opportunities to work with the Probation Service following his initial conviction, but he failed to do so effectively. She underscored the seriousness of his ongoing behavior and the need for a firm judicial response. Ultimately, she sentenced Carr to an 18-month prison term, suspended for two years, accompanied by 30 days of probation supervision and a six-month electronically monitored home curfew from 8 pm to 8 am. Additionally, Carr was placed under an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and required to register as a sex offender for ten years, reflecting the gravity of his repeated offenses and the court’s concern over his entrenched predilection for viewing and seeking out child exploitation material.