Guleid Abdulkarim

A House of Lords researcher employed by Conservative peer Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne has been imprisoned for accessing and storing child pornography on taxpayer-funded equipment. Guleid Abdulkarim, aged 30 and originally from Ethiopia, where he had previously volunteered as a teacher, was caught after parliamentary authorities detected indecent images downloaded onto servers at the Palace of Westminster.

The court at Southwark Crown Court heard that Abdulkarim kept more than 1,000 images and films depicting children, with 500 classified as the most serious type, including toddlers. Many of these were viewed during his work hours in Parliament. Following the discovery, police seized his laptop from a locker at a gay sauna in Kennington. Investigations revealed that Abdulkarim had shared explicit images of children online and participated in a Zoom chat room where he and other men discussed and fantasised about child abuse while viewing illegal material. He even used recording software to capture hours of this footage.

Prosecutor John Evison outlined how Abdulkarim was employed as a researcher and assistant to a member of the House of Lords. 'Parliament itself carried out a review and found some evidence of indecent images on a parliamentary server and they passed the information to the paedophile unit,' Evison stated. Abdulkarim admitted five counts of possession or distribution of indecent images involving very young children.

Sentencing him, Judge Joanna Korner QC emphasised the gravity of the offences: 'If it was not for people like you and the others who indulge in this there would be no market for these type of films and images and children would thereby be protected. These are exceedingly serious offences and therefore there is no alternative but custody.' Baroness Nicholson dismissed Abdulkarim upon learning of the allegations. The case, reported by The Independent on 18 October 2016, highlights security concerns within parliamentary systems.