A South Yorkshire child porn pervert faces jail if he commits further offences

Sheffield Crown Court heard on January 28 how John Agnew, aged 32, of Barugh Lane, Barugh Green, Barnsley, admitted possessing indecent internet images and to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order after his system was operating with a file-wiping cleaner.

Stephanie Hollis, prosecuting, said: “It’s a straight forward case. It’s a visit to his home address as a result of information and items were seized and there was a forensic report and a guilty plea at the first opportunity in relation to the images.”

The court heard Agnew had previously been made subject to an SHPO and this was breached between February and April after a CCleaner was applied to items resulting in them being deleted.

However, Judge Michael Slater said he could not state whether this had been deliberate or whether it had been an automatic process.

He accepted the indecent images had involved a small number of low category C images.

Katy Rafter, defending, said Agnew had an addiction and relapsed during a time of “stress and loneliness” but he has complied with treatment and is seeing a psychotherapist.

Agnew was sentenced to nine months of custody suspended for 18 months with rehabilitation sessions and a five-year SHPO.

Judge Slater told Agnew: “If you commit any offences in that time and breach any element of the suspended sentence order you are liable to come back to court and be re-sentenced and it’s unlikely you will be going anywhere but prison.”