Suspended sentence for abuse images

A former health and safety officer found in possession of images featuring "graphic sexual abuse of very young children" has been given a suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

John Leydon (aged 29), now unemployed, has begun refurbishing computers for charity so they can be sent to the Third World in an effort to make amends for his actions.

Leydon, of Riverside, Charlotte Quay, Dublin, and formerly of Tynan Hall Tallaght, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on a memory stick and CDs on April 11, 2006.

Leydon told Judge Nolan that he was "truly, deeply sorry" and wanted to apologise for his actions. He said he would never allow himself to get into a similar situation in the future and would do anything the court required.

Judge Martin Nolan had adjourned the case after hearing evidence last month to consider an appropriate sentence. He said he accepted the reports which said Leydon was no risk to the community but he wished to consider his duty to punish "a bad act" and deter others from similar offences.

Judge Nolan today said he found mitigating circumstances in the case and following the precedence of similar cases he did not find that a custodial sentence was mandatory.

He imposed a two-year suspended sentence and ordered that Leydon's name be added to the sex offenders register.

Inspector Maura Walsh told Ms Úna Ní Raifeartaigh BL, prosecuting, that gardaí conducting an investigation into a second person, who was distributing child pornography and is due to be sentenced later this month, obtained a number of e-mail addresses and phone numbers, one of which they traced to Leydon.

Insp Walsh said Leydon was not present when gardaí attempted to execute a search warrant at his home in Tallaght but he met them by arrangement later that day. He accepted that there was pornographic material of children on CDs and a memory stick in his possession but said he had never distributed the images.

The material, which included 48 videos and 160 images, was seized and examined. There was also pornographic material featuring adults.

Insp Walsh said some of the images featured "graphic sexual abuse of very young children."

Defence counsel, Mr Joseph Barnes BL, said Leydon had become involved in charitable work refurbishing computers which were to be sent to the Third World. He said Leydon had previously worked as a health and safety officer with the Luas maintenance company Alstom but was now unemployed.

Mr Barnes said Leydon, who has no previous convictions, had a "difficult developmental course" but has been attending at the Grenada Institute and was of no danger to the community. He said Leydon had cooperated with the investigation and entered an early guilty plea.