'Porn addict' downloaded thousands of indecent images

Police raided the home of Owen Mackenzie in November last year and found more than 3,500 images including some of girls as young as six, Worcester Crown Court heard.

They had been put on his trail after Avon and Somerset police arrested another man for child porn offences and found a communication with Mackenzie, Robert Price, prosecuting, told the court.

They found 3,384 moving and still images of girls as young as six or eight at category C, the least serious, 284 moving or still images at category B and five at category A, the most serious. Mackenzie pleaded guilty to all three charges.

The 32-year-old had put in searches for the child porn and downloaded the images between April, 2006 and December, 2015. He also installed software to try and hide them, Mr Price said.

Mackenzie made a full confession to police and said he had looked at online porn for sexual gratification and out of boredom. He also admitted talking to others in chat rooms about the material, Mr Price said. He had stopped when he got married.

Nicholas Roberts, defending, said Mackenzie admission of his addiction to porn had a grave impact on his relationship with his wife. He had also lost his job as a consequence and the offending would make it more difficult for him to find future employment, she said.

Judge Nicholas Cole said the offences were serious but the number of images found fell into the lower end of similar cases that come before the courts.

He said a prison sentence would be too short for Mackenzie to get the treatment he needed so the most appropriate sentence was for a 36 month community order with requirements to complete twenty days rehabilitation and the group sex offenders work programme. Mackenzie was also given a sexual harm prevention order restricting his use of computers for ten ten years and has to register as a sex offender for five years. He was also ordered to pay £250 towards costs.