A convicted paedophile who secretly took pictures of families at Crosby beach has been spared jail.
David Postance, of Alexandra Court, Sefton, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of breaching a sexual harm order, one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image, and one count of making a category C indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child. Frank Dillon, prosecuting, detailed that in 2013, Postance was sentenced to four years imprisonment for 24 offences relating to possessing and taking indecent images of children and voyeurism.
The 81-year-old was subjected to a sexual offences protection order for 15 years and the conditions of that order were that he was not permitted to possess images of a child under 16, take photographs of females or have children under 16 at his address. In June 2021, police conducted an unannounced visit to the defendant’s home, and were permitted access to his laptop, phone and computer where they found images taken from a distance of families at Crosby Beach.
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Further photos of girls in a park, also taken from a distance, were found, but Mr Dillon emphasised that none of the images found were of an indecent nature. Postance was arrested and his laptop was further analysed, and found to contain one category C image of a naked boy aged around eight years old.
Seven extreme pornographic videos were also found, plus a word document containing pornographic literature relating to sexual activity with children. The images of families at the beach were determined to have been taken between April 2019 and June 2020, and the images of girls at the park were taken on June 25, 2020.
On August 10, 2022, Postance was interviewed by police and admitted the breach immediately, stating nobody else had access to his electronic devices, but denied having a sexual interest in children. Postance claimed he did not go out intending to take the pictures, but “like scenic pictures”, he took pictures of children when the opportunity arose.
Jim Smith, defending, described the “selfish” nature of this offending, but said the probation service did not consider Postance as an immediate threat of committing contact offences. He added that the 81-year-old is the sole carer of his wife who is also 81-years-old and in bad health.
Mr Smith said that other than these offences, the defendant has not breached the court order and has complied with it well. Mr Smith said: “This is a defendant who understands his court order and the need for rehabilitation.”
Judge David Aubrey KC: “There is no doubt that there is still an unhealthy interest that you have in young children. This court has just, and only just, come to the conclusion, having heard that you have never received any therapeutic assistance for the issues that you undoubtedly have, and where there is a constructive proposal in the pre-sentence report, to suspend what would otherwise have been the appropriate duration of the sentence.”
Postance was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months, and he was ordered to complete the Horizon programme and up to 30 rehabilitation days. No sexual harm prevention order was implemented as he is still subject to the previous order until 2028.
A deprivation order in respect of the electronic devices seized. After sentencing, Judge Aubrey said: “If you commit further crimes, your age and the illness of your wife, to put it bluntly, will count for nothing.”
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