Joyce jailed for eight months over child sex offence.

COURT: Former politician who was educated in Perth handed eight months after making indecent image of child

Former Labour MP Eric Joyce has been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work for making an indecent image of a child.

The 59-year-old, who was educated in Perth and was MP for Falkirk between 2000 and 2012, had on a device a 51-second film depicting what appeared to be seven different children, aged between 12 months old and seven years old.

Joyce, of Worlingworth, Suffolk, pled guilty at an earlier hearing at Ipswich Crown Court to the offence, which took place between August 2013 and November 2018.

Judge Mr Justice Edis, sentencing the former shadow minister yesterday, said: “You have pleaded guilty to an offence which involves the possession of a category A film of a little less than a minute’s duration.

“That film showed the... sexual abuse of very young children.

“That these acts of abuse happened is because there are people like you who want to watch these films.

“If there was no market, those children wouldn’t be subjected to these very serious offences.”

But the judge added: “You have sought help from people well able to provide it and there’s evidence before the court that that has had an effect on helping you reduce, perhaps completely, your impulsive behaviour, and that’s happened over a significant period due to the delay in these proceedings.”

Mr Justice Edis also sentenced Joyce to a sexual harm prevention order, which will last until further order of the court.

He was also given an 18-day rehabilitation activity requirement and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,800.

Joyce left Labour to serve as independent MP for Falkirk in 2012, stepping down before the 2015 general election. He spent 21 years in the Army, rising to the rank of major.

Michael Procter, prosecuting, said police seized a number of computer devices and hard drives from Joyce’s address in Worlingworth in November 2018 after receiving intelligence.

He said the movie file was later found on an Apple Macbook Air laptop.

He said Joyce used software which hid internet activity and claimed in his first police interview that “he had never seen child abuse material”.

In a second police interview, following analysis of Joyce’s computer, Mr Procter said: “He told police in relation to his first interview that some of it wasn’t true.

“He had seen a mixture of images.” He continued: “He also told police he was intoxicated when he was involved in this activity.

“He couldn’t remember looking for that kind of material.”

Eric Joyce, who was MP for Falkirk, pled guilty to the offence at an earlier hearing.