KARL INGILIS FROM DOUGLAS ESCAPES JAIL AFTER POSSESSING OVER 1,100 CHILD INDECENT IMAGES

In a case that has shocked the community of Douglas, a local man named Karl Anthony Inglis was found in possession of an alarming collection of more than 1,100 indecent images of children. The discovery was made during a police raid at his residence on Railway Terrace last year, revealing a disturbing cache of illicit material that has raised serious concerns about his conduct and potential threat to public safety.

At the time of the raid, Inglis was just 19 years old. He admitted to officers that some of the images had been printed up to four years earlier, when he was in his mid-teens, indicating a troubling history of engagement with such material from a young age. The police investigation uncovered a significant amount of evidence, including digital files and printed photographs, which painted a disturbing picture of his activities.

Inglis, now 20, pleaded guilty in the Court of General Gaol Delivery to nine counts of possessing indecent printed or digital images of children. Despite the gravity of the charges and the fact that he had applied for jobs in nurseries—positions that would have given him unsupervised access to children—he was spared immediate imprisonment. The presiding Deemster Doyle sentenced him to a 12-month jail term, which was suspended for two years, meaning Inglis will not serve time unless he commits further offenses within that period.

Furthermore, Inglis was placed on the sex offenders register for five years. He is required to inform authorities of any travel plans during this time and is prohibited from working in any capacity that involves unsupervised contact with children. The court also mandated that he undergo monitoring by probation officers for two years and participate in an internet offenders programme aimed at preventing future misconduct.

Deemster Doyle commented on the nature of the images, stating that they “portrayed depravity and obscenity,” but also noted that treatment programmes for sex offenders can be effective in reducing the risk of reoffending. The judge emphasized the importance of rehabilitation alongside punishment in cases like this.

Prosecutor Rachael Braidwood detailed the police operation that led to Inglis’s arrest. On October 2, officers executed an early morning raid at his Railway Terrace home, acting on intelligence that he had paid to access a child abuse website on July 7 using an online account. During the search, authorities seized a computer containing 181 videos of child abuse, including four classified at level five—the most serious and offensive category.

In addition to the videos, police found 923 printed images stored in a safe, with 405 at level four and 14 at level five. A USB memory stick was also recovered, containing numerous indecent images of children, organized into folders labeled ‘boys’ and ‘girls,’ which were reportedly mixed with family holiday photos. Ms. Braidwood explained that Inglis initially claimed the videos on his computer were viewed by mistake, triggered by clicking on hyperlinks in spam emails he had saved to delete later. He admitted that he had printed some of the images three or four years prior and kept them in his safe, although he claimed he no longer looked at them.

Inglis also stated that he had loaned the USB stick to a friend in July, who returned it a week before the police raid. He suggested that his friend might have placed the offensive images on the device. However, the investigation linked the online transactions to Inglis’s personal email address, and further evidence showed that his friend was off-Island at the time he was supposed to have borrowed the USB stick, leading to Inglis’s confession.

During the court proceedings, advocate Darren Taubitz emphasized that there was no evidence to suggest Inglis had created, distributed, or benefited commercially from the images. He stated, “My client denies having any sexual attraction to children. He is ashamed and quite rightly disgusted with himself. He is an intelligent young man who has made dreadful mistakes and will have to face the stigma of being on the sex offenders register and the publicity that will attract.”

Deemster Doyle concluded the hearing by urging Inglis to accept responsibility for his actions and to take steps toward rehabilitation. The court’s decision to suspend the sentence reflects a focus on treatment and future prevention rather than immediate incarceration. Following the case, a police spokesperson remarked that it would not be appropriate for the force to comment further on the matter.