MICHAEL LINFORD

WARRINGTON MAN GETS COMMUNITY ORDER FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE IMAGES

A PERVERT has been sentenced by the courts after the authorities found his stash of child sex abuse material.

Michael Linford had amassed a number of images involving children being sexually abused.

The 32-year-old was subsequently charged with possessing indecent images of children and three counts of making them.

He was sentenced at Warrington Magistrates’ Court recently, having pleaded guilty to all of the charges at a previous court hearing.

The court heard from Michael O’Kane, prosecuting, how all of the offences were committed in Warrington between January 15 and May 31 last year.

Police found that Linford was in possession of 12 indecent photographs of children being sexually exploited.

Of these, one was graded as category A – the most severe category of abuse involving rape – while one was category B, and the remaining 10 were category C.

Taking his guilty pleas into account, the court felt that the offences were serious enough to merit a community penalty.

Linford was sentenced to a community order, including 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He must also sign the sex offender register for the next five years and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

In addition, he was told he must pay a fine of £80, court costs of £85, and a surcharge of £114, with an application approved for the funds to be deducted from his benefits.

An order was also approved for the forfeiture and destruction of the incident images and devices seized from him.