‘Sick joke’ images land man in the dock
MOVIE clips of humans having sex with animals and genital mutilation were found on the phone of a man who said he had them as a “sick joke”.
When Cory Giles was arrested in May 2018 for an unrelated matter, police searched his phone and found the disturbing material.
Newcastle Crown Court heard there were movies showing men having sex with a horse, sheep and dog. And there were also clips of adult male genital mutilation involving cutting with a knife. Giles insisted he got no sexual gratification from the extreme pornography and said it was just “dark humour” that he had shared among friends.
In a separate offence, he led police on a 20-minute chase through Wallsend while behind the wheel of a transit van on March 14, 2019 at around 2.15am.
He ran red lights, collided with a brick wall, causing substantial damage, then tried to flee on foot after driving down a dead end in Walker, Newcastle.
The 29-year-old, of no fixed address, who has 11 previous convictions including for arson and harassment, pleaded guilty to five counts of possessing extreme pornography, dangerous driving and failing to provide a specimen.
Jailing him for a total of 12 months, with a two-and-a-half year driving ban, Judge Robert Adams said: “You considered they were stupid videos sent to your friends for a laugh.
“You didn’t consider they were illegal but with hindsight you accept such videos cause harm to animals and humans.”
James Howard, defending, said: “He says he considered the videos to be a joke which were passed between friends as dark humour. I don’t seek to minimise the harm that is done by the production of these sort of videos.
“He didn’t realise possession of these videos was illegal.
“For reasons that are obvious, he is at pains to impress on the court he didn’t obtain any sexual gratification from them.
“He had them for a sick joke. He understands that was wrong and illegal and doesn’t want to put himself in that position again.”
Regarding the driving, Mr Howard added: “Thankfully nobody was injured but I accept that was more due to good fortune than any actions the defendant took.
“This was in the middle of the night when there were not many other road users on the road.
“He says he panicked when he saw the police vehicle and made an impulsive decision to avoid being arrested.”