PAEDOPHILE PAUL HUTLEY FROM SAWSTON FACES COURT AFTER REPEATED OFFENSES INVOLVING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

In November 2011, Paul Hutley, a 53-year-old man from Sawston, found himself in serious legal trouble after being caught for the second time possessing and making indecent images of children. Hutley, described by the court as a 'lonely man,' had his request to retain his laptop for 'work purposes' denied by the judge, who emphasized that the device must be confiscated and destroyed due to the nature of the content stored on it.

According to court proceedings, police executed a warrant at Hutley's residence on Falkner Road, Sawston, on March 9, 2011. During the search, officers discovered a new laptop in Hutley's bedroom, which was seized for examination. Additionally, they found an old, heavily damaged computer in a wheelie bin outside the house, which appeared to have been deliberately destroyed, with particular damage to the hard drive, making analysis impossible.

The prosecution revealed that the new laptop contained four images classified at level one, depicting partially naked females aged between 13 and 16. Furthermore, other indecent images of children were found on the hard drive, which had been accessed just a day before the warrant was executed. Court records also detailed Hutley's disturbing behavior, noting that he would sit in his bedroom viewing these illicit images while his elderly mother was in another room, highlighting a troubling pattern of behavior.

Hutley's criminal record predates this incident, with convictions dating back to March 2009. These earlier convictions involved the possession of 544 images of children aged six and above, including both boys and girls. The court heard that Hutley's actions were driven by a sense of loneliness and difficulty in coping with the real world, leading him to seek refuge in these harmful images.

Judge Gareth Hawkesworth addressed Hutley directly, stating, “You are clearly a lonely man who has difficulty in confronting the real world and have taken refuge in these images. I very much hope the order I am going to make will allow you to rid yourself of your habit.” As a result, Hutley was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for two years. He was also placed under a two-year supervision order and mandated to attend a sex offender’s treatment program.

During the hearing, Hutley's defense team requested that he be allowed to keep his laptop for work purposes. However, the judge firmly rejected this plea, declaring, “Your computer will be forfeited and must be destroyed as it is virtually impossible to clean it of the images you had – you brought that on yourself.”

In a related incident from April 2009, Hutley, then aged 50, was found to have downloaded nearly 1,100 images of child pornography onto his laptop. Court records revealed that Hutley viewed these images at his Falkner Road residence over a period of almost two years, from December 2006 to November 2008. His arrest followed the use of his credit card to purchase the illicit material, which he claimed was 'artistic.'

Police discovered 544 images that could be viewed on his device, with an additional 554 images found deleted. Hutley explained that he had begun viewing these images during a period of personal despair, following the failure of his business and turning to alcohol. He expressed remorse for his actions, which he described as stemming from a 'traumatic' phase in his life.

As a consequence, Hutley was handed a 12-month community order, which included supervision requirements. He was also placed on the sex offenders' register for five years and was prohibited from working with children. His laptop was confiscated as part of the court's measures to prevent further offenses.