Paul Meechan

A 56-year-old man from Cardiff has been sentenced to imprisonment for a series of serious sexual offences involving indecent images of child abuse and prohibited material depicting necrophilia. Paul Meechan, residing on Llanfair Road in Pontcanna, was arrested following investigations that revealed his possession and distribution of such images, as well as his inappropriate communications with a teenager.

At Newport Crown Court, the sentencing hearing on Friday detailed the horrific nature of the material found in Meechan's possession. This included an image of a person engaging in sexual activity with a corpse and footage of children as young as seven months old being abused. The court heard that Meechan had been speaking to a teenager and incited him to engage in sexual activity, leading to charges of sexual communication with a child.

Meechan pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to multiple counts: possession of category A, B, and C indecent images; possession of extreme and prohibited images; distribution of category A and B images; sexual communication with a child; and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. In mitigation, it was noted that he had referred himself to the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity focused on preventing child sex abuse.

• Possession of category A, B, and C indecent images of children
• Possession of extreme and prohibited images, including necrophilia
• Distribution of category A and B indecent images
• Sexual communication with a child
• Inciting a child to engage in sexual activity

Judge Wayne Beard, during sentencing, condemned the offences, stating: "These images can only produce revulsion in right thinking people... Part of what went on here was your involvement in drugs. You sought to minimise the offences by saying you received no sexual gratification from the images but were interested in them because they were illegal." The judge highlighted the profound harm caused by such materials.

Meechan received a total sentence of two years and eight months' imprisonment. Additionally, he was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and required to comply with sex offender notification requirements for 10 years. The case was reported by ITV News Wales, based on proceedings at Newport Crown Court.