Pensioner downloaded sadistic porn images of children as young as one

A Notts pensioner who downloaded hundreds of sick porn images in which children as young as one were injured by "sado-masochistic activity" has been sentenced.
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Police were alerted when James Holland uploaded a Category C image to the internet in October 2019, and officers searched his Retford home, on July 20, last year, said prosecutor Tony Stanford.

Holland told them: "I have been looking online. I haven't contacted anyone. Will I go to prison?"

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Analysis of his laptop and phone revealed 2,697 images and movies of children aged between one and 14.

Read the latest cases from Nottingham Crown Court.Read the latest cases from Nottingham Crown Court.
Read the latest cases from Nottingham Crown Court.

"Some of the images involved sado-masochistic activity towards very small children in which they were injured," Mr Stanford said.

Holland claimed he had been "nosing around on the internet" and "became curious" after "images just popped up."

He said they made him feel "guilty" but he denied viewing them to be "gratified," Nottingham Crown Court heard on Friday.

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In total, there were 354 Category A pictures, 278 Category B and 2,075 Category C, where Category A is the most extreme.

Judge John Burgess asked Holland, who is of previous good character, why he was representing himself in court when the offence had a starting point of 12 months in prison.

Holland confirmed he understood the risks, and said: "I didn't want to spend that amount of money to hire a lawyer."

He told the court: "I feel guilty, embarrassed and ashamed. I have never had any inclination to do anything with children. That I have always found abhorrent."

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Holland, 68, of Holdenby Close, Retford, pleaded guilty to making indecent pictures of children, on December 11.

Judge John Burgess told him: "These offences give right-thinking people a sense of disgust. For each of those photos you had on your computer there is a child being abused. Indirectly you are responsible for the abuse of those children."

Holland was sentenced to ten months, suspended for two years. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made for five years and he was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.

His computers were forfeited, but a request to retrieve files relating to his role as treasurer of a classic car club was granted.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription https://www.localsubsplus.co.uk/ or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.