Simon James Gallienne, 50, was ultimately charged with possession of more than 2,500 indecent images of children and making nearly 2,500 images. He pleaded guilty in the Royal Court and was sent to prison for 20 months.
The court was told that the images he admitted holding amounted to 54 images of category A, the most serious, 58 in category B and 2,491 in category C. Gallienne admitted making 2,476 images graded as category C.
Tens of thousands of borderline images were also found that either did not fit into category C or for which the age of the person pictured could not be determined.
Grading of all images stopped when this threshold was met, partly because of issues with police resources.
Crown Advocate Jenny McVeigh told the court how police had executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home in October 2024. Electronic devices were seized, and he was arrested. The images were found across three devices and dated back to 2021.
Gallienne was charged with the offences last March. He exercised his right to silence in his first interview, though he did provide the code for his password-protected items.
In a second interview he denied having indecent images of children on his devices and said he did not know how they had got there. He then said he used the dark web as he had an interest in naturism and could have downloaded things inadvertently.
He denied all charges pending the preparation of an expert report but in November he changed his pleas to all matters. He had no relevant previous convictions.
Defending, Advocate Samuel Steel said his client had not entered guilty pleas at the first opportunity due to shame.
His later plea changes had avoided the need for a trial.
He recognised that the images represented the abuse of real children. He had admitted viewing and saving images but had not shared them or distributed them. The borderline images were not unlawful and those images he had made were of the least serious category.
His offending was linked to the deterioration of his mental health, escalating despair and long-standing depression.
Counsel spent time explaining details of his client’s health issues to the court and said he was petrified of going to prison due to his extensive care needs. His physical and psychological vulnerabilities were exceptional.
Lt-Bailiff Graeme McKerrell said while Gallienne’s poor health might provide some insight into his offending, it offered little mitigation to what he had done. While the number of class A images in this case was not the highest, they were of the most disturbing kind.
‘For every indecent image of a child, there is a child harmed,’ he said.
It was people like the defendant who created demand for such images which meant more children were harmed.
While he had pleaded guilty to his offending, the court considered he had not fully accepted the reasons why the images came to be on his devices and his risk of re-offending was not insignificant. Accessing the dark web was not something that people did accidentally.
Meetings had already taken place and the court was satisfied that the defendant’s basic health requirements could be catered for within the prison. But the sentence would be reduced slightly because of this.
Gallienne was jailed for 20 months for possessing the 54 class A images. Penalties for the other matters were lesser and concurrent. He will be subject to an extended sentence licence for two years upon his release from prison, and notification requirements for five years from the date of conviction.
Jubilee Hospital Radio acts quickly to remove former volunteer and station manager
SIMON GALLIENNE was previously a volunteer with Jubilee Hospital Radio.
It issued a statement on Monday evening disassociating itself from him and explaining how he had been removed from the station as soon as the offences came to light.
Gallienne was a volunteer and former station manager.
The charity said that as soon as it became aware of the police investigation, Gallienne was instructed to stand down from all roles and prohibited from acting on behalf of the charity, or volunteering in any capacity.
It said it had no prior knowledge of Gallienne’s offending, and had never been involved in the investigation.
‘Our focus remains on supporting patients and staff at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital. Safeguarding, patient wellbeing, and maintaining a safe environment for everyone we serve remain our priority,’ it said.
‘We are deeply concerned by the nature of the offences.
‘As soon as we were notified of the investigation, we acted immediately and decisively to remove the individual from the organisation. He has not represented the charity since.
‘We continue to support patients and hospital staff and are continually reviewing our procedures to confirm our safeguarding processes remain robust.’
Jubilee Hospital Radio continues to operate as normal and remains committed to providing entertainment, companionship, and information to patients.
Gallienne’s involvement with the radio station was not referenced during the court proceedings.