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An NHS junior doctor who secretly took indecent photos of children he treated and a woman he had anaesthetised has been branded a 'predatory paedophile' by a judge who jailed him for 12 years today - and said he had caused 'irreparable damage' to the public's trust in the medical profession.
Edward Finn, now aged 36, looked emotionless as he was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to a string of horrific child sex offences and crimes against adult females which he had previously pleaded guilty to.
When he was finally snared after an unsuspecting family member found disgusting images on his computer, he told police: 'I have tried to stop but I can't. I am not unwell but I cannot stop.'
In a text messages left to family as he made an attempt to take his own life, he wrote: 'It had been a pleasure but I never physically hurt anyone. I didn't mean for this to happen.'
Evil Finn, an anaesthetist, who had given an interview to the BBC as part of the junior doctors' strike and worked in overcrowded wards during the Covid pandemic, preyed on his unsuspecting victims over years in three East Midlands hospitals he worked in.
He also stored thousands of sexually explicit images of children on his computers and mobile phone in files named 'Hidden', prosecutor Victoria Rose told his sentencing hearing.
In some pictures of naked children they 'looked in obvious distress' and there were some if 'young girls being shackled to beds,' she said.
Almost all the images he stored were of girls, the youngest being a 12-month-old baby and the eldest aged 14.
When cops raided the defendant's home - which at the time he was sharing with his wife and young son - they found a garrote hidden in a wardrobe, along with a child-like and adult-like sex dolls.
Finn carried out his depravity whilst working at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre, Royal Derby Hospital and Kingsmill Hospital in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.
He was arrested in November last year.
He admitted three counts of making indecent photographs of children, three counts of taking indecent images of children, two counts of voyeurism and one charge of sexual assault against a child aged under 13.
He pleaded not guilty to three further charges of theft, voyeurism and sexual assault - with those offences ordered by His Honour Judge Michael Auty KC to lie on the file.
In two of his most disturbing acts he took photos of a woman patient he had anaesthetised and a young child he was undergoing an operation.
As details were read in court, family members in the public gallery were heard loudly sobbing.
Passing sentence and in a scathing attack the judge told bearded and bespectacled Finn, who had been remanded in custody site his arrest: 'You have caused irreparable damage to the confidence and trust society has placed in the medical profession.
Judge Auty told disgraced doctor Finn: 'The author of your report states that you are a highly intelligent man who would have fully understood your crimes and the nature of your actions but you would have carried on offending had you not been caught.
'Web searches from as long ago as 2016 include worrying terms such as 'drunk teen sex' and 'amateur voyeur' and an indication of how depraved you had decline was the discovery of an indecent image of a girl at Royal Derby Hospital.'
He jailed Finn for eight years with an extended licence of four years, totalling 12 years for all seven offences.
He received individual sentences of between 10 months and eight years for the offences to run concurrently.
He will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life.
After ordering Finn - behind the glass panelled dock - 'You may go down', the judge told members of public and media: 'I have no idea of the long term effects of Edward Finn's behaviour and how such wickedness can occur.'
He said in light of this case he hoped the authorities would 'give some thought about the vulnerability of patients' and called for that to be 'properly and appropriately protected.'
The father of one of Finn's young victims read his own victim impact statement to the court, saying: 'It is hard to fully understand the impact his crimes have had on my family.
'He was in a position of trust in his job working high in the medical profession. He was also working in the community as a football referee.'
The dad, looking visibly shaken, told how he had received regular counselling and that both he and his wife had 'struggled' and had both taken time off work but he had now returned to his job.
Prosecutor Miss Rose told the shocked courtroom how numerous Category A, B and C images of young girls were found stored in his electronic devices.
One disturbing picture showed a girl, aged six-eight being raised.
Police searching is home also uncovered a screenshot of a theatre patient, and internet searches included 'Year six netball and 'School beach trip.'
Tellingly, there was also a search for 'Derby doctor sexual assault.
On his iPhone there were 163 category A images, 225 Category B and 2,898 Category C.
There was further indecent pictures of a child in hospital and of a girl aged eight to 10 act Sainsbury's in Nottingham's Castle Marina, the court heard.
Doctor Finn's crimes came to light after naked images of children were found on his two iPads by a horrified family member on November 12 last year, the court heard.
Police were alerted and later found a text message from him which stated: 'It has been a pleasure. I never physically hurt anyone and I didn't mean this to happen.'
Officers located the defendant through his Find my iPhone app in his car at Trent Lane in East Bridgford, Nottinghamshire.
Prosecutor Miss Rose says: 'He was found slumped at the wheel of his vehicle by the River Trent with a medical device he had removed from hospital.
He was administering medication with 'the intention of ending his life.'
She said: 'He said he was going to throw himself in front of a train to end his life in a flash' and that there were 'images I am not proud of.
On his arrest he told police: 'I am not unwell. I have tried to stop but I can't, I cannot stop. There is no excuse.'
He said he suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) after seeing a 14-year-old girl who suffered severe burns die in hospital at the start of the Covid lockdown.
The defendant's estranged wife, who walked out on him following his arrest and is now ending her marriage, said her 'entire life had been ripped apart by the man I trusted most in the world.'
The sobbing woman, giving an impact statement at the sentencing hearing, wept: 'My life has been based on a lie. He deceived me and abused his position if trust and my heart has been irreparably broken.'
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, added: 'Our dreams as a family have been completely obliterated by his actions.
'The true depth of sadness is overwhelming.'
The devastated mother of another victim said in an impact statement read by the prosecutor that she could no longer 'trust doctors.'
She continued: 'I find it difficult to believe this can happen and I struggle with anxiety and it has put a stress on my relationship.
'I feel thoroughly let down by people we should trust the most,
The court hearing the defendant's lawyer Andrew Wesley that his client had no previous convictions.
He said: 'He is entirely sorry for his actions - that is an understatement.
'His immediately acted to self harm and attempted to take his own life because of the self disgust he feels about his behaviour and the effects it has had on everybody else.
'He is aware of his failings over a decade and he made attempts to seek help.
'He has engaged in therapy whilst in prison.'
Mr Wesley said that losing colleagues during the pandemic and seeing patients die had affected him.
He said on one night shift while the doctor was on duty in an overcrowded ward with 36 patients being treated in a ward for 11 he saw five people die.
The lawyer added: 'He has suffered a significant degree of trauma but he is responsible for his own tragedy, and his self disgust is proper.
'He has helped many people through difficult times in his career.'
He said the defendant's 'mother remains supportive' of him.
His Honour Judge Auty described him as a 'predatory paedophile.'
He ordered for him to be put on suicide watch in prison.