A paedophile who downloaded sickening indecent images and had "cleaning software" on his laptop told police he had no sexual interest in children.
Stuart Nicol was found with the abuse material, the majority of which were videos, when police raided his home in September 2020. The indecent images depicted children as young as three years old and included one video which was almost 10 minutes long.
When arrested, he made "full admissions", but claimed he had no sexual interest in children and suggested he had been gathering the images with the intention of contacting police. The 63-year-old appeared at Durham Crown Court on Monday to be sentenced for three counts of making indecent images of children. He pleaded guilty to the charges at the morning hearing.
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Victoria Lamballe, prosecuting, said police executed a search warrant at his home on September 28, 2020, and seized a laptop which was examined. A total of 39 category A, 55 category B, and 12 category C indecent images of children were discovered. The material was downloaded between January 27 and August 17, 2020, but Nicol admitted he'd been downloading images since 2013. All of the category B images were "moving", the court heard.
Ms Lamballe, said: "He said he had no sexual interest in children and that his mental health had been at the root of his offending. The images involved children as young as three years old and one nine-minute video was found. Cleaning software was installed and had been used several times before his arrest. He appeared to suggest he was gathering the images with a view to contacting police or a helpline."
Jennifer Coxon, defending, said Nicol had been "extremely honest" about the images found. She said: "He had a very respectable job in sales and was going around the world with his job. In 2013 his brother passed away and he still finds it hard to talk about his passing. From that point, his mental health deteriorated and he then left his respectable job.
"He then started a new job and received a laptop and he thought that images had popped up on that laptop, but he accepts he has then downloaded images on his own accord and put them in a folder on his desktop."
Sentencing Nicol, of North View, Castle Eden, County Durham, Judge James Adkin the Recorder of Durham, said: "The material you looked at are repellent images of real children suffering sexual abuse at the hands of adults. You are the market, and without you there's less potential for such children to be victimised."
Nicol was given a 10 month prison sentence, suspended for two years and must complete 40 rehabilitation days and 180 hours unpaid work. He will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years and a 10 year sexual harm prevention order was also imposed.
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