A north Cumbria-based registered sex offender who used an illegally held smart phone to access indecent images of children has been jailed by a judge who said he had made no attempt to mend his ways.
Bruce Chandler, 57, was originally handed a suspended prison term by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court in 2021. Chandler had made sexual online advances to what he believed were young girls, requesting topless photos and attempting to meet one of them.
As a result of that conviction, Chandler was also made subject to a court order and requirements to curb his online use and allow the police to monitor his movements.
Earlier this year, police visited Chandler who told them he was not in possession of any prohibited devices capable of connecting to the internet. But during a further unannounced home risk assessment visit a fortnight later, Chandler was seen trying to hide a smart phone.
“I’ve had it for over a year,” he confessed to police. “I know I shouldn’t have it. I thought I could get away with it. I lied about it the last time you were here.”
It emerged Chandler had used the phone from December 2022 — 14 months into the two-year suspended prison sentence term — to access nine indecent images of children.
Carlisle Crown Court heard he’d also accessed one extreme pornographic image featuring a dog and logged into Instagram using an undeclared online alias. In addition, he had deleted eight online messaging apps and also deleted almost 4,500 web browser searches.
When brought back to court today, Chandler, of St Martin’s Close, Brampton, admitted seven offences. These were four breaches of a sexual harm prevention order, possession of nine category C indecent images of children, possessing an extreme pornographic image and breaching sex offender notification requirements.
The court heard he’d spoken of using the phone to access pornography very close to the knuckle, which included young girls.
Defence lawyer Andrew Gurney, mitigating, said: “He wishes to apologise to the court for what he has done.”
But Judge Michael Fanning observed that Chandler had been guilty of deceitful and dishonest conduct. The prosecution and probation service concluded he had paid mere lip service to a programme of work imposed by another judge in 2021 which was aimed at rehabilitating him.
“You attempted to cover your internet tracks in order to avoid detection,” Judge Fanning told him. “You have made no attempt to mend your ways.”
The judge activated the previously suspended two-year jail term in full, and imposed an additional two-year sentence, to run consecutively, for the latest offending.
The judge imposed a new order which will run indefinitely.
