Dr Jeremy Richard Allington-Smith, a 59-year-old astrophysicist and former lecturer at Durham University, appeared at Durham Crown Court charged with multiple sexual offences spanning five years. The case came to light when a student, tasked by her landlady with sorting recyclable rubbish, discovered a brown envelope containing numerous hand-drawn sketches depicting child sexual abuse. This prompted a police investigation that uncovered a disturbing cache of material at Allington-Smith's home and university office.
Police searches revealed thousands of downloaded indecent images of children, including prohibited categories, alongside hand-drawn scenes of child abuse and a comprehensive 'paedophile manual' featuring over 4,000 of his own sketches providing advice on the sexual abuse of children. Additionally, Allington-Smith had clandestinely filmed hundreds of women in Durham city centre, capturing 360 moving clips of individuals wearing short skirts and shorts using a camera phone. He also recorded footage of women undressing by placing the device under doors, constituting acts of voyeurism and outraging public decency.
During police interviews, Allington-Smith admitted to creating the sketches, claiming he did not realise they were illegal and describing them as 'victimless' since no actual children were harmed. He stated he drew them in moments of 'idleness' for sexual gratification and expressed uncertainty about the ages of the children in the downloaded images. Allington-Smith, who served as associate director of a research facility developing instruments for space travel, resigned from his position at Durham University in disgrace upon the offences being exposed.
Allington-Smith attributed his behaviour to hypersexuality and impulsive tendencies induced by medication for his Parkinson's disease. He had sought help from his doctor to manage these impulses but minimised the scale of his activities. Represented by Brian Russell, medical reports and character references were submitted to Judge Christopher Prince, highlighting Allington-Smith's 'brilliant academic career' and 'major contribution' to astrophysics, as well as his subsequent remorse and engagement in psychiatric help and counselling.
Judge Prince acknowledged that the offences crossed the custody threshold but opted for an exceptional non-custodial sentence, stating: 'It's important the public realises why a man who has committed offences for which they would expect him to go directly to prison, isn't going to go to prison today.' He imposed a three-year community supervision order, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further notice, and required Allington-Smith to register as a sex offender for five years. The judge warned that any return to offending would result in imprisonment, expressing confidence in medical monitoring to prevent re-offending through ongoing Probation Service engagement.
Prosecutor Harry Hadfield detailed the extent of the material, while the NSPCC commented post-verdict: 'It is vital to remember that the children in these images are real children who have suffered appalling abuse for the images to be made. Accessing this material fuels the demand for the abuse to continue. It is entirely right that Allington-Smith was brought before the courts for these crimes. We hope through close supervision he is prevented from re-offending.' The case, reported by The Telegraph on 10 March 2017, underscores the complexities of medication side effects intersecting with criminal behaviour in a high-profile academic.