Description
A convicted paedophile who was found with more than 250 indecent images of children, with a judge describing them as some of “the most disgusting images” he’s ever had the misfortune of viewing, has been jailed.
Phillip Belcher pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, but only after initially taking the case to court when he was found with the photographs on his devices back in 2019, rendering him in breach of a suspended sentence and sexual harm prevention order.
He was jailed for the breaches but fell to be sentenced for the images after he tried to blame everyone else but himself for his actions.
Prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, Adam Lodge said Belcher, 33, had been convicted in Reading in July 2019 of making indecent images of children and had been made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and suspended sentence.
However, in August 2019, during a routine check at his home in Church Meadows, Colne, police found Belcher to have devices which he had not informed the police about, including a Sony tablet and phone, which placed him in breach of his order, as well as an SD memory card.
On it, police found disturbing images of children only a few months old, as well as one of necrophilia.
Belcher tried to blame his partner and another member of his family for the images, saying they might have been the ones who viewed them.
His suspended sentence was activated, and he was jailed for 15 months.
Following his release in June 2020, Belcher was visited at home once again and a mobile phone was found which had been used to search for child sexual abuse on Google.
Judge Guy Mathieson said: “It was entirely your choice to span out these proceedings from 2021 until last year until you admitted your guilt before trial.
“At one stage you even blamed your partner.
“At 33, you might want to start to take some responsibility for your actions.
“The type of images you take some sexual gratification from are abhorrent. You are taking sexual delight in the abuse and torture of tiny children, babies in some cases.
“When it comes to your pre-sentence report you are blaming everyone else. You even say you may have come across the images by accident.
“You are a wholly unrepentant paedophile and you are not someone who wants to change or embrace change. You are quite happy with who you are.
“The images you have downloaded contain some of the most disgusting images I have ever had the misfortune to come across.”
Belcher, who has 15 convictions for 19 offences was jailed for two years, and told to sign the sex offender’s register for 10 years.
No variation was made to his sexual harm prevention order which will be in place for another six years.