Dad who downloaded disgusting child abuse images walks free from court

A Warrington dad whose appalling hoard of child abuse images included a baby crying hysterically has walked free from court.

A judge told 64-year-old Terrence Bann that the images in his “quite large collection showed particularly young and vulnerable babies and toddlers and were quite disgusting.”

Nadir Nemat, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court yesterday (Mon) how police raided his home in School Road, Orford, Warrington, on April 12 last year.

They seized various electronic devices including a HP laptop which was found to contain the images in the charges Bann admitted and “there were a further 3,757 images and videos which were not categorised.”

Titles of various “folders and pathways” indicated the sort of material he was interested in and analysis showed that he had installed specialist apps including one to delete internet history.
He had also visited a website for sharing such indecent images but there was no evidence that he had shared any, said Miss Nemat.
Images found included “babies and toddlers including a baby visibly distressed and hysterically crying and being forced,” she said.
Bann was twice interviewed by police, the first time making no comment and the second time “he accepted responsibility and said he was sorry.”
The defendant pleaded guilty to four offences making 902 indecent images, with the majority, 383, in the most serious category. He also admitted possessing the images and also possessing three prohibited images.

Paul Woods, defending, said that Bann,had no previous convictions and had shown remorse for the offences which took place between the autumn of 2021 and the spring of 2023.
Bann, who has children, has various medical conditions for which he needs long term treatment, he said.
Judge Garrett Byrne told Bann, “Every image in your collection represents an abused child and your possession of them only fuels that vile trade.”
He said when he had come into court he intended to impose an immediate jail sentence but he thought a more proactive route would be to suspend it.
He sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered him to carry out 60 days rehabilitation activities days as 80 hours unpaid work and to attend the Horizon programme.