A PERVERTED Kineton man has claimed his motive for downloading horrendous images of child abuse was not sexual, but because it was the only way to get the NHS to listen to him.
But that was rejected by a judge who observed if Paul Walker had wanted to draw attention to himself, he could have stolen a bar of chocolate from a shop.
The 40-year-old, of St Peter’s Road, had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to three charges of making indecent images of children – some of which included babies.
He was sentenced to six months in jail suspended for two years and ordered to take part in a rehabilitation activity, to register as a sex offender for seven years, and to pay £100 costs.
Prosecutor Russell Pyne said after Walker came to the attention of the police, his home was visited in July last year, and his phone and a tablet computer were seized. Both contained a total of 55 indecent images of children although all of them were inaccessible, having been deleted.
Having been bailed after the police visit, Walker was re-arrested after the images were found – and commented: “I know they were there. It was the only way to get the NHS to listen to me.”
When interviewed Walker, who had no previous convictions, declined to elaborate on what he meant – but Mr Pyne suggested the likely reason was an interest in young children.
Kate Hatton, defending, said Walker had had health problems since he needed surgery as a baby for a hole in the heart. In 2017 he had a pacemaker fitted, and he had a problem with the aortic valve.
She explained Walker believed it had slowed the flow of blood to his brain which had affected his thinking, to the extent he claimed to need a calculator to add two and two, ‘and he maintains this was an endeavour to get attention.’
Asking the judge to impose a suspended sentence, Miss Hatton said Walker was remorseful, and a pre-sentence report assesses him as posing a low risk of re-offending.
Recorder Christopher Donnellan QC told Walker: “You know, or if you don’t know you need to understand, people who download and view images contribute to the perpetration of the abuse you see taking place.
“Even though you have never touched a child in your life, by downloading this material you have contributed to the abuse of real children somewhere in the world.
“If you want to draw attention to yourself over the failures of some body or other, you do not need to go through a search for the most horrendous material on the internet.”
Perverted Paul Walker claimed he downloaded images of child abuse to get attention.
