Pervert pensioner jailed over sickening child porn photos

A PERVERTED pensioner who was caught with a sickening collection of child pornography has been jailed for 10 months.

Alexander Penman, 66, told officers who raided his Edinburgh home in April 2011 that he liked to look at images of children being abused.

He was arrested after Lothian and Borders Police received intelligence that he was using software to download indecent photographs at his house in Whitson Grove, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how stunned detectives found Penman had a total of 1,158 indecent photographs and 14 movies.

The court heard how Penman stored the material on his computer and used a file sharing program called Limewire to obtain the haul.

Jailing Penman, Sheriff Maciver said he wanted to impose a sentence that would deter anybody else tempted to download pornography of children being abused.

Sheriff Maciver added: “I have formed the view that the most appropriate disposal available to me is to impose a custodial sentence.

“I want the people who read or hear about this case to realise that this court won’t tolerate offences of this nature.”

Penman, of Whitson Grove, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography between January 2008 and April 2011 at an earlier hearing.

Sentence had been deferred until Monday in order for Sheriff Maciver to receive reports about Penman’s character.

During the earlier hearing, depute procurator fiscal Jane Hilditch told the court that Lothian and Borders Police quizzed Penman minutes after arriving at his home on April 29, 2011.

She said that he had told the arresting officers that he got a kick at looking at the pornography.

Ms Hilditch added: “The accused admitted that he had been looking at indecent images of children on his computer. He freely admitted that there were indecent images of children on his computer.

“He said that he wasn’t proud of it and wanted to put his hands up to it.

“He told the police that he had contacted his doctor and was seeking help for the problem.”

Today efence solicitor advocate Matthew Auchincloss told the court that his client had sought psychological help for his problem from a charity.

The court heard how the organisation - called Stop It - was helping Mr Penman understand why it was wrong for him to look at images of children being abused.

Mr Auchincloss told Sheriff Maciver: “I would urge your lordship not to send Mr Penman to prison. He has worked his entire life and has never prior to this incident came to the attention of the authorities before.

“He has gone through his life being considered as being an upstanding pillar of the community. He now faces the prospect of being ostracized from the community.

“He fully accepts that his actions were wrong. Mr Penman comes from a background of abuse in his childhood but he doesn’t offer that as an excuse.”

Sheriff Maciver also ordered Penman be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.