Wickford man with 'gross' images of sex acts with animal is charged

Philip Goodwin, of Hengist Gardens, Wickford, was convicted of possessing indecent images of children in 2017 and handed a indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

However, on Christmas Day last year his phone was used to view extreme pornography involving animals.

He was charged with possessing extreme pornographic images and was sentenced in Basildon Crown Court on Friday after admitting the offence.

Marie de Redman, prosecuting, said: “On December 28 police received the notification at 9.10am that the defendant had accessed images of an extreme nature involving animals.

“The defendant’s unchallenged basis of plea is he was browsing for other types of pornography and those images appeared on his device during the course of those searches and his viewing was inadvertent.”

Connall Bailie, mitigating for Goodwin, pointed to his acceptance of his “weaknesses”.

He said: “A strong thread throughout the pre-sentence report is that Mr Goodwin has an excellent appreciation of his weaknesses and what he has to do and hasn’t done in terms of dealing with those weaknesses.

“He has also prepared for Your Honour a short letter and that in my submission simply fortifies that this is a man who recognises his weaknesses. Mr Goodwin has a great deal of insight into the type of man he is and is accepting of the dangers he could pose.”

Mr Bailie added given the number and nature of images found Goodwin’s offences would be on the lower end of the harm scale.

Recorder Ben Irwin said: “You are here charged with possessing extreme pornographic images.

“These images are grossly offensive and disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character and a reasonable person looking at the image would think that any such person or animal was real.”

Goodwin was handed an 18-month community order with a 50 day rehabilitation activity requirement, 120 hours in unpaid work and he is required to pay £535 in costs within 12 months.