A paedophile chef who had a sickening collection of child abuse images has been spared jail.
Steven Finall, 45, collected a stash of child abuse pictures and videos, including vile photos of toddlers being raped, Liverpool Echo reports. He was handed down a suspended prison sentence at a court hearing in Liverpool.
The court had heard that his employer, Chef and Brewer pub The Swan, had been aware of the allegations and had given their "support". However, a spokesperson for the pub said they were "shocked and appalled" to learn about the court case when the story broke this morning, Wednesday, September 28. The Swan confirmed that he no longer works at the family-friendly establishment.
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Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Tuesday 27 September, that Cheshire Police raided Finall's home in Warrington back in January this year after receiving information about suspect activities on Snapchat. Officers executing the search warrant seized a Samsung tablet computer and a mobile phone.
The seized devices were found to contain 34 pictures and two videos graded as being category A indecent images, materials showing the most serious forms of abuse. Also discovered were 32 category B photographs, as well as 121 pictures and one video in category C.
Most were found in cache files, having been deleted from Finall's photo gallery. The images had been collected over the previous 12 months, with one having shown a two-year-old child being raped.
Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, described how terms used to search the internet "indicated the defendant had been specifically searching for that type of material". Finall, who works 55-hour weeks at the Swan in Winwick and has no previous convictions, was also in possession of a bag of cocaine.
Under interview after being arrested, he "appeared to accept he received indecent images of children". But the court heard that he had received "remarkable support from his employer" - with Simeon Evans, defending, adding: "He has been honest with his employer and his family, and he is supported in court today."
Finall admitted possession of indecent images, possession of cocaine and three counts of making indecent images. He was given a six-month imprisonment suspended for two years and was told to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
Recorder Mark Ainsworth also imposed a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 35 days plus a sexual harm prevention order and a notification requirement, both lasting seven years. Sentencing, the judge said: "For you, it must have been a shock to find yourself standing in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court.
"You must understand that the court takes a very dim view of this sort of conduct. The point that needs to be emphasized time and time again is that behind each of those images is a child being sexually abused.
"If there was no marketplace for those images and people like you looking on the internet searching for them, the abuse would not take place. The circumstances of this case are such that, while I am obliged to impose a sentence of imprisonment, it can be suspended due to their being a good prospect of rehabilitation.
"I do think it is impressive that your employer is standing by you. I do believe the probation service can work well with you to ensure that this conduct is not repeated in the future."
Finall was told to pay a victim surcharge, with forfeiture of the electronics and destruction of the drugs ordered.
Speaking to the Echo after the court case, a spokesperson for The Swan said they were "shocked and appalled to read the headlines this morning". They added "this was the first time we had been made aware of the court case and sentencing". The spokesperson also said Finall, who had given his address in court as the Golborne Road pub, does not live there.
The Swan told the ECHO : “We can confirm he no longer works at the pub and if any allegations had been made to us previously we would have dealt with them in a swift and appropriate manner through our usual HR processes.
“Any comments made in the court about support from his employer must have been around general support he received during his time working at the pub. We are so deeply upset and distressed by this and please ask our customers to understand that we have found out about this news at the same time as everyone else.”
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