Soldier admits having indecent images of children

AFORMER soldier from Runcorn has been sentenced after admitting possession of small number of indecent images of children.

Ashley Grace, 55, of Hilltop, had pleaded guilty to making category B images and category C images, distributing a category B image and possession of nine indecent images after a search of his phone, and WhatsApp messenger contact, by police in Runcorn.

Although Grace had been charged over four category B images and five category C images, his defence counsel said when copies and cropped versions were excluded, the possession amounted to three category B and one category C images amounting to an ‘extremely small’ amount, and that there no terms were found in his search history indicating he had been looking for them, and he claimed there was ‘no rational explanation’ for why Grace had sent an obscene image of a child.

The court heard Grace had no previous convic- tions, and had served in the Army with the King’s Regiment, completing two tours of Northern Ireland. Despite the low number, His Honour Judge Simon Berkson, presiding, said the distribution of a category B image was serious enough that it crossed the custody threshold.

To emphasise the severity, Judge Berkson described details of the shared image, which he said showed a girl of six or seven years old.

He sentenced Grace to four months in prison, suspended for 18 months, placed him on the sex offenders register for seven years and ordered him to pay £250 court costs. The judge said a sexual harm prevention order was not required.

Sentencing Grace and with reference to the shared sick image, he said: “In my view that crosses the custody threshold.

“As the starting point is one year custody with a range of one week to two years custody, I’ve been persuaded the overall features of this case have a low number of images.”

Grace was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Thursday, February 1.