Stuart Brickwood

Stuart Brickwood, a 50-year-old man from Clacton-on-Sea, was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court for his involvement in possessing and distributing indecent images of children. Police officers raided his property on Hayes Road in Clacton after monitoring his online activity, seizing six devices that contained videos and pictures of children as young as four being raped and abused.

The court heard that Brickwood was an active member of several social media groups dedicated to sharing illegal content, including groups named 'Send pics and vids of your girls aged 13 only' and 'Young girls up to 17 or be removed'. These groups required members to post pictures and videos of girls aged between 13 and 19, with threats of removal for non-compliance. Indecent images across Categories A, B, and C were found on his devices, accumulated over a seven-year period from 2013 to 2020.

Prosecutor Helen Dawson detailed how Brickwood admitted to four offences of possessing indecent images of children. Additionally, a sexually charged conversation with a young girl, who mentioned her parents did not allow her on the mobile phone app, was discovered on his devices. Judge Mary Loram KC, during sentencing, remarked: 'With competence you navigated social media to pursue your interest in obtaining indecent images of children. There is significant evidence of your entrenched sexual interest in children and in your case you are acting on it. What you were looking at was images of children being raped and abused and that would not happen if it wasn’t for people like you.'

In mitigation, Nick Bonehill argued that Brickwood was ashamed and had sought assistance, but the judge criticised him for refusing to discuss his offending in a pre-sentence report, claiming he would get angry, and for denying any sexual interest in children. Judge Loram concluded: 'This gallops past the custody threshold. There is clearly no realistic chance of rehabilitation.' Brickwood was jailed for 13 months.