Thomas Corking

A man from Darlington has been imprisoned for distributing and possessing child sexual abuse material. Thomas Corking, aged 29, was arrested following a police investigation into the sharing of indecent images from his home address.

On 12 November 2023, officers from Durham Constabulary attended Corking's residence in Darlington, where he lived with his partner Ashley Robinson. Acting on intelligence that child abuse images were being digitally shared from the property, police seized two devices: an iPhone hidden under a pillow and an iPad from the coffee table. A secure, PIN-protected folder on the iPhone contained a video of a child being raped, alongside more than 1,000 Category A images and videos depicting children as young as three months old being sexually abused.

Prosecutor Emma Atkinson told Teesside Crown Court that evidence showed Corking had shared these indecent images via the Telegram messaging app. Messages exchanged with other users revealed his deviant sexual interests, including fantasies about raping a child. Corking pleaded guilty to three counts of making Category A indecent images of children, one count each of making Category B and C indecent images, possession of prohibited images, and three counts of distributing Category A, B, and C indecent images.

In mitigation, Reece Williams noted that Corking had no previous convictions and had led an isolated life at times. However, Recorder Andrew Haslam KC imposed a total sentence of 28 months' imprisonment, stating: 'The exploitation of children, particularly as young as those in this case, are always viewed as serious offences. Many children are scarred for their entire lives because of men like you.' Corking, now residing on Rosslare Road in Stockton-on-Tees, was also made subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order and required to register as a sex offender for the same period.

The case was reported by The Northern Echo, with details from the court hearing at Teesside Crown Court. Ashley Robinson was arrested as part of the investigation but awaits sentencing at a later date.