CHESTER MAGISTRATES COURT ORDERS REPORT INTO SEX OFFENDER
A CHESTER man will have to sign on the sex offenders register within three days after admitting possessing extreme pornography and child sex abuse images.Philip Hutchins, 72, of Stocks Avenue, pleaded guilty to five charges at Chester Magistrates Court on Friday, October 10.
He admitted possession of seven indecent images of children, including one category B and six category C images between March 30, 2020 and November 7, 2024.
He also admitted that between January 21, 2015 and November 29, 2023, to possessing two prohibited images of a child.
Hutchins also pleaded guilty to having three videos portraying the sexual abuse of animals during the same period.
Marta Pawlowska told the court that police last year were informed that a man – the defendant – had requested access online to child sex abuse images.
They arrived at his property, where he lived alone, and his devices were seized and forensically searched.
Stevie Bate, defending, called for a pre-sentence report.
She said: “It’s a guilty plea at first chance and he’s never been before the courts before.
As custody is the starting point for sentencing, a pre-sentence report is required.
We’re not talking about a vast number of images here, so we need to discuss whether a community sentence is better.” Magistrates agreed and a pre-sentence report was ordered.
Hutchins will return to court for sentencing on November 7 but was told he would have to sign on the sex offenders’ register within three days.
The defendant was also given conditional bail of not to have any unsupervised contact with anyone aged under 18 or to reside in any residence with them.
He is also to contact police over any changes to his address or phone.
