Locations
Patton Drive, Great Sankey, Warrington, Cheshire, WA5
Description
A DISGUSTING paedophile who had been making indecent images of children since 2007 has been jailed.
Simon Tomkins was in possession of so many sick images that Cheshire Police stopped counting after finding a certain number.
He had ‘collected’ these shocking images – including ones of children being sexually assaulted – for more than a decade.
Tomkins, 39, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children (IIOC) and sole counts each of possessing IIOC, possessing prohibited images of children and possessing a class B controlled drug.
Specifically, Tomkins was in possession of 222 category A images, 358 category B images, and 10,710 category C images.
Prosecuting, Derek Jones told the court how the investigation commenced after Cheshire Police received intel that the Tomkins, of Patton Drive, Great Sankey, may be accessing indecent images online.
They attended his address in October 2019 and arrested him where they seized seven electronic devices – all of which ‘tested positive’ for indecent images.
Mr Jones explained how Tomkins had downloaded a browser that allowed him to search anonymously.
He also said how the majority of images found were in ‘normal positions’ on the defendant’s computer, but some had been put into folders under ‘genres’ or under girls' names so he could ‘access them quickly’.
Some of the folders were also password protected and some images downloaded by Tomkins dated back to 2007.
This meant he had been downloading sick images for 12 years from 2007 to 2019.
The court heard how Cheshire Police stopped examining the items found on Tomkins' computer after they found a certain number of category A images - the most severe category involving child rape.
Mr Jones said how ‘well over’ 100,000 pictures and videos were found on devices belonging to Tomkins’, but it is not clear if they were indecent images as the police had stopped categorising them by this point.
He also revealed how some of the videos found included children as young as eight years old.
Tomkins had also been using Kik Messenger and Skype where there were some sexualised conversations between him and another user – and in one instance it is believed he had pretended to be a 14-year-old girl.
Defending, Robert Dudley said that after the shock of Tomkins being arrested: “He has gone cold turkey and has not accessed sites like this since.”
He also said that Tomkins has an understanding how what he did and ‘how bad that was’ and has also shown an understanding of what impact he had on the victims.
Concluding, Judge Ian Harris said: “In my judgement, the only appropriate punishment is immediate custody.
"The victims in this case are the children in those images.
"They are being sexually exploited and are highly vulnerable.
"The impact on them is massive and has a corrosive effect on them.
"There is no doubt that in the short and long term these victims do suffer."
Tomkins was handed a two-year prison sentence.
He is also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and must comply with notification requirements of the sex offender register for 10 years.