A “hoarder” paedophile with a collection of more than 11,000 indecent images of children has been spared prison because he looks after his mother with dementia.
Lance Bickerton, 60, of Blundell Road, Widnes, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images across Categories A to C, and possessing indecent images, prohibited computer generated images, and “extreme pornography”, namely bestiality. Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, said “intelligence” obtained by police led officers to execute a warrant at Bickerton’s home address at 6.50am on December 21 last year, where they seized his hard drives and computer towers and arrested him.
Bickerton “immediately” made admissions to downloading indecent images of children. Analysis of his hard drives uncovered a vast hoard of sick pictures and videos - so big his defence barrister questioned whether he’d have seen them all.
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Mr Blasbery said the “extremely large” stash comprised 327 images of the worst type in Category A including 75 videos, 359 at Category B including 35 videos, and 10,738 at Category C including 46 videos which showed girls as young as six years old.
The youngest abuse victim in the Category A material was a girl believed to be three months old, while at Category B, the youngest was a girl aged three years.
Bickerton also had 1,325 “extreme pornographic images showing adult females with dogs and horses”, 424 of which were videos.
A further 53 prohibited computer-generated images of children completed the depraved collection.
The total number of Category A-C images stood at 11,424, which were compiled over 13 years from 2008 to 2021, which the judge described as an “incredible” number.
Mr Blasbery said when interviewed again by officers from Cheshire Police, Bickerton admitted the images were his but claimed “he was attracted to older teens” of about 14-16 years old and “stated he wasn’t attracted to children in real life”. He later entered his guilty pleas.
Bickerton didn’t have any previous convictions, and was due to be sentenced in mid-November but the case was adjourned for a letter to be obtained from his mother’s GP outlining her dementia diagnosis and Bickerton’s role as her carer.
In her mitigation, defence barrister Carmel Wilde cited Bickerton’s guilty pleas, his “previous good character” and lack of convictions and his care duties.
She said he had become “isolated” and was an avid “hoarder”, collecting items such as model cars, stamps and Manchester United memorabilia.
Ms Wilde conceded Bickerton’s stash included “distressing and concerning images” but said most of the hoard were Category C and her client was ignorant to the “harmful effects” of his activity.
She said: “He feels rightly ashamed and embarrassed. He’s shown an insight into his offending behaviour in that when sat at the computer he didn’t realise the market he’s perpetuating and he recognises now the harmful effects this has on children, having to film these images for an audience.”
Ms Wilde said Bickerton had a university education and had worked in insurance sales and also in debt recovery for a local council - unnamed during the hearing - but had reduced his hours and retired to look after his mother following her diagnosis of dementia, which had culminated in a recent incident in which she endangered herself.
She said the public would be better served by a suspended sentence and rehabilitation than immediate prison.
Recorder Mark Ainsworth sentenced Bickerton to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and made him subject to the notification requirements - also known as the “sex offenders register” - and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, both for 10 years.
Bickerton must also complete a 60-day rehabilitation activity requirement and stick to an electronically monitored curfew from 8pm to 6am in his Widnes address.
Recorder Ainsworth branded the collection of abuse images “abhorrent” and said his reason for suspending the sentence was Bickerton’s mother’s care needs.
He told the court: “You are a single man who until recently held down a good job and who cares for his elderly mother, but behind that facade there has been a number of years where you have committed serious criminal offences.
“These are offences which members of the public find rightly to be abhorrent.
“When the police came to your property and conducted a search, to be fair you were completely open with them and you’ve been open with them throughout.“
Recorder Ainsworth added: “These are criminal offences that the public find to be abhorrent and one has to infer that if it wasn’t for people like yourself creating a market for these images that this sexual abuse wouldn’t take place, that’s why there must be a sentence of imprisonment.”
Explaining his decision to suspend the sentence, he said: “I’ve already acknowledged the public view of this sort of conduct and there will be many people who say I should send you to prison today.
“I have to accept and I do accept that in this case there’s a good prospect of rehabilitation, and I’ve read with care the documents that relate to your mother and the position she’s in and the impact on her, should you not be able to assist as you have been doing for a significant period of time, and these facts together mean that I should suspend it for 18 months.”
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