Caerwyn Ash

A former contestant on the BBC's MasterChef has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of possessing child abuse images and attempting to pervert the course of justice through blackmail.

Caerwyn Ash, 41, from St Thomas in Swansea, reached the quarter-finals of the 2016 series of MasterChef. He is also a university academic. Following his arrest, police discovered a significant amount of illegal material on devices belonging to Ash. Prosecutor James Wilson told Newport Crown Court that a hard drive contained 20 images and five videos of child abuse, alongside 50 images and 35 videos involving bestiality. Additionally, a computer tower held 30 images of child abuse, one video, 28 images involving animals, and five videos.

• Ash was arrested for possessing these materials.
• The day before his scheduled appearance at Swansea Magistrates' Court, he visited Swansea Central Police Station with a letter addressed to the 'Head of CID'.
• In the letter, Ash threatened to 'create an earthquake' by publishing compromising videos of police officers engaged in sex acts, claiming he would use a trusted friend in the Press Association to release the material publicly.

Ash, who represented himself in court, denied nine charges of possessing indecent images, prohibited images, and extreme pornography, plus one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was convicted on two counts of possessing indecent images of children, two counts of possessing extreme pornography, and attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was acquitted on two further counts of making indecent images of children and possessing prohibited images.

During the trial, Ash maintained his innocence, stating: 'The defendant has always maintained his innocence and he has never seen any images of this type.' He highlighted his appearance as a 'celebrity chef' on MasterChef and his charitable work cooking Christmas dinners for homeless people, while claiming to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Sentencing Judge Wayne Beard remarked: 'You have not accepted the jury's verdict and in light of that there is no prospect of any rehabilitation taking place by means of the probation service. You created a document which in effect said would result in the release of videos of police officers if the court case was not stopped. I've no doubt your intent was to bring the other charges that you faced to an end. I consider the seriousness includes the nature of the conduct in which you were engaged; making threats towards police officers involved in aspects of their private lives - whether true or not. You indicated you had already provided members of the press with videos of those police officers. This was a deliberate, manipulative and cynical attempt.'

In addition to the three-year custodial sentence, Ash received a sexual harm prevention order, which prohibits him from living with children under 16 without social services permission and restricts his internet use. The case was heard at Newport Crown Court, with evidence gathered by South Wales Police. Source: ITV News Wales, 22 June 2023.