POLICE who raided the home of a Carlisle man when he lived in south Cumbria discovered evidence of his interest in child abuse images.

When officers later examined a laptop and a phone owned by former Kendal man Kenneth Andrew Moncrieff, 44, they also also found that he had distributed one of the indecent images, Carlisle Crown Court heard. 

He admitted five offences.

The defendant, of formerly of Park View, Windermere, but now of South Henry Street, Carlisle, admitted the distribution offence as well as downloading one Category A child abuse image – the most serious kind; downloading one Category B indecent child image; downloading 16 Category C indecent child images and possessing eight extreme pornographic images.

The indecent child image he distributed was classed as Category B. It involved a girl aged 12 or 13 taking a shower.

Kim Whittlestone, defending, said the defendant had longstanding drug and gambling addictions and, at the time of his offending, he had a “highly pressured” job in London but he returned to Windermere at weekends.

“He'd hide away and consume drugs while living an extremely isolated existence,” said the barrister.

A former halls of residence manager who worked for a “big city marketing firm,” the defendant found himself online chatting to other people, gaining sexual gratification and this led to his offending.

The most serious crime, said Miss Whittlestone, was distributing the Category B image.

But there were a limited number of indecent images involved.

The barrister added: “He has resigned from his work in London and his aim, once he has had support from the relevant organisation, is to find employment and live a law-abiding life.”

Miss Whittlestone told the court that since his arrest Moncrieff had worked with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and considered the impact of his offending behaviour. 

“This is a man who, despite his flaws, has really sought over the many months since his arrest to try to start on the path to rehabilitation,” added Miss Whittlestone.

Recorder Mark Ainsworth noted how the defendant committed the offences while he living a “somewhat chaotic” lifestyle, working in London during the week and returning to the Lake District at weekends.

“What you need to understand is that these images are not somehow victimless," the Recorder told Moncrieff.

"Every photo of a child being sexually abused is a child being sexually abused.

“If there were not a marketplace for these images one would assume that this sexual abuse would not take place.”

The Recorder said that when he first read about the case he had intended to jail the defendant but, having listened to Miss Whittlestone’s mitigation, he was persuaded he could draw back from an immediate jail term.

“What is clear,” said the judge, “is that you have turned your life around.” 

He accepted that there is a good prospect of rehabilitation. Moncrieff’s work with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation would help prevent a repeat of the offending.

The judge imposed a ten-month jail term, suspended for two years.

The sentence includes a three month 9pm to 5am curfew, which will be electronically tagged and five rehabilitation activity days. The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register for ten years.

There will also be a sexual harm prevention order which will regulate the defendant’s use of the internet. This will also run for a decade.