A HEREFORD man who possessed pornographic images of children on his computer has been told by a judge that he cannot access the internet in a private setting for five years.

Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins told Stuart Morgan, 49, that he could only access the internet on public computers in libraries and cafes.

His internet ban, the judge added, included using mobile phones.

“It’s quite clear that for many years this man’s life has been dominated by online activity,” Judge Pearce-Higgins told Hereford Crown Court last Friday.

“He lives alone in a flat and spends a lot of time on the computer and has accessed indecent images. The law is against me doing this but every case is different. If this man is to re-integrate with the real world he can’t be tempted like an alcoholic is tempted by alcohol.”

Morgan, of Roman Road, Holmer, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of children, possessing an extreme image of an activity of intercourse with an animal and a prohibited cartoon image of a child.

Scott Coughtrie, prosecuting, said police had obtained a warrant to visit Morgan’s property last May when Morgan told police that he had been ‘deleting stuff’ found on the peer-to-peer sharing site, eMule.

He told police on interview that he had used the sharing site over a number of years and had ‘accidentally’ downloaded a number of images involving children which had stayed on his hard drive.

Morgan told police he had a pornography collection on his hard drive which he watched alone but said that he didn’t actively seek the images of children.

Mark Thompson, mitigating, opposed the judge’s proposed internet restriction order and said that computer use was fundamental and that lives were led through machines in a good way.

“My opposition is whether a blanket ban on the internet is proportional,” said Mr Thompson. “We rely on the internet daily to function. For somebody to to have to go to a public place to access bank details is disproportional. The computer is no longer a novelty possession. A blanket ban would cripple him.”

Mr Thompson requested a sexual harm prevention order which would have seen police officers monitor Morgan’s use of the internet. But Judge Pearce-Higgins disagreed with this and imposed a complete private internet ban.

Morgan was also ordered to complete a 36 months community order and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for five years.