Man jailed for indecent images of children
A MAN who admitted making indecent images of children was so overwhelmed by shame that he tried to take his own life, the Royal Court heard.
Liam McIlroy, 46, had also exchanged indecent messages with others over the internet. He said he could not remember downloading the pictures because he was drunk.
After being charged he made an attempt on his life but Advocate Amy Davies, defending, said the police were able to intervene.
McIlroy pleaded guilty to a total of seven counts – three of making indecent images of children and four of sending messages of an indecent character over the telecommunications network.
Advocate Chris Dunford, prosecuting, said that the images and messages were found after police carried out a search of McIlroy’s home.
Devices were seized on which a total of 16 images were found that had been received via the chat app Kik.
Indecent images of children are graded on a C to A ascending scale in terms of their seriousness and the numbers found in this case were six, six and four respectively.
The indecent messaging had taken place over the Discord app. He had discussed fantasies of sexual behaviour with children.
McIlroy was ashamed of his behaviour, said Advocate Davies.
He had experienced periods of isolation in his life which had led to him turning to excessive alcohol consumption, and at the time of his arrest he could best be described as a functioning alcoholic.
None of the images were sent to anyone else and there were few of them, said Advocate Davies
The Discord chats were fantasy role-playing with another adult, in which one of them would pretend to be a child. They were not intended to be seen by others nor were they sent to anyone else.
McIlroy was now alcohol-free after his time in custody.
He no longer felt his only option was to harm himself, she said.
He had lost his job, his home and was now estranged from his siblings as a result of the offences, she said.
But he was hopeful that he could find employment if he was not sent to prison and she asked for a suspended sentence.
The Bailiff said that the court regarded indecent images of children as abhorrent and the sentence needed to have a deterrent element.
It treated the messages as an aggravating factor in the images offences.
Being intoxicated at the time of the downloads was irrelevant, he said.
‘It is important that everyone, including you, takes responsibility for their actions, however difficult their circumstances may be,’ he told the defendant.
‘If you don’t have control of yourself while drinking to oblivion, you have only yourself to blame.’
McIlroy was sentenced to two years, 12 months and five months for the category A, B and C images respectively, and three months for each of the four messaging offences. The sentences were to run concurrently, starting from the date of his arrest in October.
He was also made subject of a five-year sexual offences prevention order, a supervision order and a notification order, also for five years.
