John Blatchford 46

Description

A SEX offender from Hampshire has had his jail term increased after he wrote a six-page guide for another prisoner on how to access child abuse images on the dark web.

John Blatchford was on a sex offenders' wing at Dartmoor Prison in Devon when he created the blueprint for a friend who was about to be released.

The handwritten document gave detailed instructions on how to access the worst child abuse images and movies without being detected by police.

It explained how to get on to the dark web and even included the names of illegal websites where images are exchanged.

The creation of the guide put him in breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which included a ban on discussing child sexual abuse with anyone, either in person or online.

Blatchford was serving a six-year sentence for attempting to commit sexual offences against two girls aged seven and nine.

He sent child abuse images to a police officer who was posing as the father of the two fictional girls and pretending to be a fellow paedophile.

Blatchford, 41, of Blackwater Mews, Totton, admitted breaching the SHPO and was jailed for a further 22 months by Judge Paul Cook at Exeter Crown Court.

The judge told him: "This six-page document is a paedophile manual or blueprint of how to access images of children and there are references to the dark web and how to avoid detection.

"The length of time it would have taken to write demonstrates your determination to commit offences and to encourage others to do the same. That is shown by the technical detail in this deeply disturbing document."

Richard Crabb, prosecuting, said Blatchford created the guide in 2017 and gave it to a friend who was about to be released from Dartmoor.

It only came to light when the other man's offender manager became suspicious about his behaviour after his release and searched his home. Blatchford was identified as the author because his fingerprints were on the paper.

Mr Crabb said: "This was a flagrant and deliberate attempt to assist another in accessing child abuse material and avoid detection. It is aggravated by the fact it was committed while in prison."

William Parkhill, defending, said the guide dealt with accessing images rather than actually making contact with children and was written at a time when Blatchford was using illegally obtained drugs in Dartmoor.

He said his client had volunteered to take a sex offenders' treatment programme and had got off drugs.