A Northwich dad has been spared jail after admitting downloading indecent images of children.

Nigel Wrench, of Naylor Court, was sentenced to 15 months in prison suspended for two years at Chester Crown Court on Monday (July 18).

The 54-year-old earlier pleaded guilty to seven counts relating to making, possessing and distributing indecent images of children between February and November last year.

Search warrant

Police executed a search warrant at Wrench’s home on November 26, 2015, and seized a laptop containing 522 indecent pictures and videos.

Thirty-three were Category A, the most serious, 36 Category B and 453 images were Category C.

Special software was installed on the machine, which prosecutor Peter Hussey said enables the user to make ‘clandestine entries on the internet’.

Wrench – who was living with his wife and one of his daughters at the time of his arrest – admitted to police that he had a keen interest in adult pornography, but initially denied any knowledge of the indecent material of children.

“His reaction was to say that there was nothing he had done to cause there to be indecent images of children downloaded,” said Mr Hussey, who added that the search terms Wrench used would ‘inevitably’ lead to finding indecent images of children.

'Limited education'

Wrench’s lawyer Peter Barnett described his client as a man of ‘limited education’ and said the court proceedings have had a ‘devastating effect’ on his personal life, as he and his wife are now living apart and on poor terms.

The court heard that the author of a pre-sentence report concluded Wrench is of low risk of committing any other offences and showed willingness to address his offending behaviour.

In addition to the suspended sentence, Judge Nicholas Woodward imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order on Wrench – who has no previous convictions – and ordered him to complete a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement, 160 hours of unpaid work and to pay £1,200 of prosecution costs.