Locations
Kilvey Terrace, St Thomas, Swansea, SA1
Description
Caewen Ash tried to blackmail police into dropping the charges after he was caught
A former MasterChef contestant who downloaded sickening sex abuse photos of children has been jailed. Caerwyn Ash, who was a quarter finalist in the 2016 series of the popular BBC culinary series, claimed he was innocent and that a "whole list of other people” had access to his equipment, adding that “they had access to everything in the house”.
His trial heard that after the indecent images were found, he tried to blackmail the police into dropping the charges - bizarrely threatening to reveal sexually explicit material involving South Wales Police officers to the world’s media unless proceedings against him were stopped.
He was later convicted by a jury of having 20 indecent photographs of a child and five indecent videos of a child - the latter of which were all in the highest category.
On Thursday, a sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court heard that Ash, of Kilvey Terrace, St Thomas, Swansea, was also convicted of possessing 35 videos of extreme pornography, including acts of bestiality, and 50 still photographs in the same category. The images and videos were discovered and Ash was arrested in April 2019 following a report that had been made by his former partner, which resulted in a search of Ash's then home and the seizure of various pieces of computer equipment belonging to him.
He was interviewed by police in September 2022 and denied any knowledge of the images. The court heard he was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice - a charge which related to his attempt to blackmail police.
Prosecutor James Wilson said the aggravating features of Ash's offending included the age and vulnerability of the child depicted and the fact the collection included moving images. He said while there were no sentencing guidelines for the perverting the course of justice offence, it was "obviously a serious offence", though he noted that "nothing further happened" after the defendant presented to the police documents making the threats therein.
In mitigation, former university academic Ash, who was representing himself, first apologised to the court for his lack of preparation. He claimed that all his documents were "destroyed" the previous day and he "had no time to prepare this morning". He said he had found the experience of being prosecuted "overwhelming and traumatic" and maintained, as he had done from the start, his innocence and denied any knowledge of the images. "The defendant has always stated that if he had ever seen such an image, he would have been compelled to inform the police," he told the court.
He added that he had no previous convictions and that his and others' lives had been "destroyed" following his arrest in 2019. He also said he had done work for charity - such as for mental health and homelessness - had endured two decades in a "controlling" relationship and had been diagnosed with PTSD in prison.
Sentencing the defendant, his honour judge Wayne Beard said he did not accept Ash's statement that his threats to police was "simply an attempt to get things noticed in terms of any investigation" but that he had "no doubt that your intent was to try to bring the charges that you faced to and end." The judge said the blackmail "strikes at the heart of justice", describing it as "manipulative and cynical", though acknowledged it was "unlikely to ever succeed in any way, shape or form".
As for the images, the judge said noted Ash had continued to deny any knowledge of the images and did not accept the jury's verdict, adding: "In my judgement therefore there is no prospect at this stage of any rehabilitation taking place by means of the probation service and the types of courses they involve sex offenders in."
He noted that Ash was previously of good character and took into account his charitable works and that he had had "some level of diagnosis in prison of PTSD". He sentenced the defendant to three years in prison in total. Ash was also subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years, meaning, among other requirements, that he cannot live in the same household as any child under the age of 16 unless with the permission of social services, and he will also be on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.