A 76-year-old Whippingham man has avoided prison after he pleaded guilty to making almost 145,000 indecent images of children, as well as possessing a video of a 3-month-old baby in pain and distress.
Peter Kirby, a resident of Medina Park caravan site located on Folly Lane, appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court for the first time earlier this year, on 19th June.
As previously reported by Island Echo, Kirby was charged with 5 offences which took place in East Cowes between February 2019 and March 2023.
The court heard that Kirby made 986x Category A indecent images of children, 1,227x Category B images and a staggering 142,265x Category C images.
He also faced an allegation of possessing 5 prohibited images of a child and a further charge relating to an extreme pornographic image portraying an act of intercourse/oral sex with a dead/alive animal.
During the hearing, Kirby stood with his arms crossed and scoffed at the Magistrates’ remarks.
Following the initial hearing on 19th June, Peter Kirby’s case was sent straight to Crown Court. It was here on 13th July that he pleaded guilty to all 5 offences.
The court heard how Police seized hard drives from Kirby’s caravan in March 2023, later discovering still and moving images of different people and children organised in categories and folders. These videos had a total length of 38 minutes.
Out of the total 144,478 indecent images found, 2,826 were videos – 1 of which showed a 3-month-old baby being raped.
Last week, on 17th September, Kirby faced Judge William Ashworth for sentencing.
The peadophile pensioner was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.
As well as this, Judge Ashworth imposed a sexual harm prevention order, ordered Kirby to complete 30 rehabilitation days and ordered him to comply with a police notification requirement before ordering £1,000 compensation to be paid.
The court heard that the total amount of compensation will be given to Victim Support, a charity dedicated to supporting people affected by crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales.
