An OAP 'porn baron' who masterminded his own illegal sex business by secretly selling unregistered sex videos on the black market has been jailed for four and a half years. Barrie Templeman, 80, made massive profits from his enterprise along with his long-term partner, Diane Atkinson, who was used to launder and cover up the profits.
After a complicated investigation, police found large amounts of money - most notably sums of £543,770, £116,687 and £115,000 - had been transferred as part of Templeman's operation, reports the Hull Daily Mail. At Hull Crown Court, the Driffield man admitted possessing video recordings for the purposes of supply to others and possessing and acquiring criminal property, whilst Atkinson, of Great Hatfield near Hornsea admitted converting and acquiring criminal property.
The court heard that seedy Templeman ran his illicit business selling unregistered pornography and, over a period of several years, from which he and his partner benefited financially by acquiring criminal property. Templeman was arrested at his previous address where Atkinson was also present in 2018.
Police were initially led to Templeman's address due to his connection with the company, Acorn, which itself was selling unregistered pornography. In a search of the property, officers discovered two industrial-sized printers in the living room, whilst pages of a brochure advertising pornographic videos were found on the drum of one of them.
The prosecution claimed that Atkinson was aware of them and that she was aware that the machines had been used to produce unlicensed pornography. She admitted that Templeman was storing items at her home, and police found her to be in possession of a credit card in Acorn's name.
After refusing permission for police to carry out a voluntary search of her house, the court heard she said to officers: "Please don't take my house." Her home was searched, however, with a laptop including a flyer advertising the sale of "videos" found. The return address for sales was "Acorn Zodiac" - which was linked to Templeman's business.
In February 2021 after further inquiries, meanwhile, police searched three properties associated with Templeman, in which two more large printers were found. In addition, six disc-writing devices were found along with uncertified and unclassified pornography. Stamped envelopes containing brochures were also discovered along with £5,350 in cash hidden inside a thermos flask.
The address that was being used was business premises from which Templeman had been supplying unregistered pornographic videos. There was a store at a unit in York where Templeman rented a mail box, using his address in Wetwang, and police searched this.
Police discovered daily orders for the purchase of pornographic videos and requests for brochures. These orders were addressed to Acorn Zodiac, the court was told. A detailed financial investigation was carried out. Bank accounts, HMRC records, Land Registry documents and conveyancing files were all examined.
These included conveyancing files relating to a property called Cobblebank that was bought outright by Atkinson in 2015. This was one of the criminal property matters. During this time, her bank account was credited with £115,000 but she was unable to say where this had come from.
A number of bank accounts belonging to Atkinson showed further unexplained credits totalling £116, 687 over the course of several years. Another unexplained sum of £543,770 was traced to a bank account in the name of Acorn relating to Templeman.
He had not been identified as a registered director of any companies. Acorn and Acorn Zodiac were not registered as limited companies. Atkinson claimed that she had won money on the National Lottery, the court heard.
During police interview, Templeman answered "no comment" to most questions about the nature of his business and whether he had supplied pornography to sex offenders. He claimed that he had given Atkinson money from the sake of his restaurant and that she had won about £40,000 or £50,000 on the Lottery.
He denied that Atkinson knew about his business of supplying pornography. Atkinson claimed that she did not have any knowledge of a flyer advertising pornography. She denied any involvement in Templeman's businesses. She claimed that she was unaware of his address in Pocklington or that a sales operation had been run from his address. Atkinson denied having any knowledge about a rented mail box in York, the court heard.
Atkinson confirmed that she bought a property in Filey in 2010 and claimed that she bought it using Lottery winnings, savings and money borrowed from Templeman. She claimed that there was an agreement to repay Templeman when the property was sold but that Templeman had then told her to keep the money in order to buy a new property.
She denied any knowledge about whether the money was from the proceeds of crime and claimed that Templeman had assured her that the money had come from the sale of a restaurant. Atkinson claimed that Templeman had told her "Don't ask questions" when she asked him about the money. She denied any knowledge of the £155,000 which was transferred to her before buying the Cobblebank property.
She claimed that she did not know about the money or how it had been transferred to her bank account. Templeman, who had previous convictions, was jailed for four-and-a-half years. Atkinson, who had no previous convictions, was jailed for two years and three months.
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