A paedophile chef was spared jail after claiming he was allowed to keep his job working in a pub.
Steven Finall collected a sickening stash of child abuse pictures and videos, including vile photos of toddlers being raped. Despite this, he was handed a suspended prison sentence and a court was told he would continue in his role as kitchen manager of a family-friendly public house. This was later disputed by the pub's owners, who said they only learned of his crime when it was reported by the ECHO.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, that Cheshire Police raided the 45-year-old's home in Warrington on January 13 this year after receiving information about suspect activities on Snapchat. Officers executing the search warrant seized a Samsung tablet computer and a mobile phone.
READ MORE: Pub 'appalled' to learn paedophile chef stashed vile child abuse images
These devices were subsequently 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 has 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 - who gave his address in court as the Golborne Road pub - 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.
*This article was updated after a spokesperson for the Swan told the ECHO that despite what the court was told, the ECHO's report "was the first time we had been made aware of the court case and sentencing."
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