Thomas David Curry

A 19-year-old university student from Burnopfield, County Durham, appeared at Durham Crown Court after admitting to multiple breaches related to his status as a registered sex offender. Thomas David Curry, previously convicted in July 2024 for possessing over 200 indecent images of children and 72 prohibited images, had been placed under a 24-month community order, including 50 rehabilitation activity days to address his sexual proclivities. He was also subjected to a five-year sex offender registration and a Sexual Risk Order imposed by magistrates shortly after his conviction, which restricted his internet activities.

Despite these measures, Curry returned to court having pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements, three counts of breaching the Sexual Risk Order, and one count of possessing prohibited images of children. Prosecuting, Kathryn Wetherley explained that police discovered Curry had used three aliases to access internet sites without notifying authorities within the required three days. This allowed him to engage with paedophilic computer games featuring more than 400 life-like, computer-generated prohibited images of children aged five and upwards. An examination of his seized laptop revealed he had played the game on 34 occasions, earning 'achievements' for his progress.

In mitigation, defence barrister Lucy Todd acknowledged that the offences crossed the custodial threshold but argued for a suspended sentence, citing a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. She highlighted Curry's vulnerabilities, deep remorse, and shame, noting his significant ill-health and recent admission of a sexual attraction to children, which demonstrated increased maturity. Todd emphasised that Curry was turning away from the 'digital realm' and was willing to work actively with the Probation Service, despite previous inadequate engagement. She described him as a young man who had taken the wrong path but was at a turning point.

Recorder Ian Mullarkey, addressing Curry, criticised his deliberate concealment of the paedophilic game under a different file name and accused him of believing he was immune to court orders. The judge noted that Curry had minimised and justified his offending during Probation Service interviews, while understanding he was awaiting assessments for autism and ADHD. Imposing a 12-month sentence in a young offenders' institution, suspended for 18 months, the Recorder required Curry to complete 26 rehabilitation activity days and 200 hours of unpaid work. He also extended Curry's existing community order by six months, warning: 'Mr Curry, this is really your final opportunity to take advantage of the assistance available to address the underlying causes of your offending behaviour. If you don't comply, you'll go to prison.' The case was reported by The Northern Echo on 18 November 2024.