Man who ran child porn ring from café is jailed

A STUDENT who ran an international child pornography ring from a Scottish internet café has been jailed for almost four years.

Nicholas Dockray used the name "Kinderpix" to send shocking images to perverts across the UK, Europe and America. But the operation came to a halt when he was traced to the caf in Glasgow city centre after Croatian police arrested a member of the ring.

The 31-year-old had admitted at Glasgow Sheriff Court last month to possessing, distributing and showing indecent footage between 15 December 2002 and 15 August 2003.

Sheriff Deirdre MacNeill QC yesterday jailed him for 45 months when he reappeared for sentencing. She also ordered that he serve a two-year extended sentence on his release for the protection of the public.

The sheriff said: "What is disturbing in this case is the level of cynicism and exploitation of what were very young children. The pictures are disturbing and the thought of a man doing this in a caf is quite shocking."

The court earlier heard how Croatian police arrested a known sex offender in 2002, who was a member of a notorious child porn ring. When this man's computer was examined, they discovered repeated references to a person who ran the site nicknamed "Kinderpix".

It was later uncovered that this person was Dockray, a history and philosophy student.

Keith O'Mahony, prosecuting, said the computer used was traced to the popular Easyeverything internet caf in Glasgow's St Vincent Street.

Strathclyde Police set up undercover surveillance at the caf and also examined hours of CCTV camera footage.

The court heard yesterday that Dockray - who was placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely - was "a sad individual" who showed little remorse for the victims of child porn.