NICOLAS BONE FROM KEMPSHOTT SPARED JAIL FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENCES IN WINCHESTER

In September 2017, a disturbing case involving Nicolas James Bone, a resident of Sandpiper Way in Kempshott, came to light when he was found guilty of possessing indecent images of children. Bone, aged 27 at the time, appeared before Winchester Crown Court on Thursday, 14 September, where he received a sentence that many might find surprising given the nature of his offences.

Bone was convicted of possessing a total of 52 indecent images, which included 11 images classified as Category A, the most severe classification, along with five images in Category B and 36 in Category C. These images depicted children in various states of undress and engaged in sexual activities, causing significant concern for the court and the community.

The police investigation was initiated after authorities uncovered a series of text messages exchanged between Bone and another individual. These messages revealed that Bone was actively sharing and receiving illicit images. Prosecutor Christopher Wing detailed the exchanges, noting that Bone responded to the sharing of images with a comment: “You are a gentleman and a scholar LOL, I will have to show you my sources IE websites LOL.” This exchange indicated Bone’s involvement in the online distribution of child abuse material.

Further investigation revealed that Bone was utilizing the dark web and specialized software, such as TORT, to conceal his online activities and avoid detection. The court heard that Bone had openly admitted to police that he had viewed images of girls aged 15, although he expressed disgust at images of younger children. Prosecutor Wing stated, “He realised he got no sexual gratification for images of children under a certain age, and when watching a video of a quite young child that had been shared he threw up on his bed.”

During sentencing, Judge Jane Miller QC acknowledged Bone’s cooperation and candidness, which she said worked in his favor. She remarked, “This court sees people who have many thousands of images, whereas you had just under 60, many of which were of a category C.”

As a result, Bone was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years. The sentence was applied concurrently across all counts, and he was also placed on the sex offender’s register for a period of five years. The case highlights the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to combat online child exploitation and the importance of judicial discretion in sentencing such serious offences.