A convicted child rapist from Didcot was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison after being caught possessing indecent images of children just weeks after his release from custody. Barri Speller, aged 44, of Linacre Close, Didcot, pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of children at Oxford Crown Court.
The court heard that Speller was released from prison in February 2021 following previous convictions for serious sexual offences. In 1997, he was convicted at Basildon Crown Court of indecent assault on a 14-year-old boy. In 2004, he received an extended sentence of 17 years for raping a girl and indecent assault on a girl under 14. Additionally, in 2012, he was jailed for 20 months at Oxford Crown Court for possession of indecent images.
Upon his release in 2021, Speller was placed in temporary accommodation in Oxford and subject to a court order limiting his internet access. His offender manager, a police officer from Thames Valley Police, installed specialist monitoring software on a smartphone that Speller had permission to receive from his brother. However, in March 2021, concerns arose about his web activity, leading to a formal warning. Speller disabled the software and searched pornographic websites for images of boys and girls aged 10 and 12.
Police discovered 16 category A indecent images on his phone, depicting assaults on children as young as 12, along with 20 category B images and 14 category C images. During his police interview, Speller claimed he was merely testing the boundaries of Google's search limits, but the evidence from his internet history contradicted this.
Judge Maria Lamb, sentencing Speller, stated: "Within weeks of your release from a sentence of imprisonment in February 2021, you were found in possession of a series of indecent images of children, the most serious of which – category A – numbered 16." She added: "Whilst it is right to say that they are not the excessive numbers that sometimes are seen by these courts, the possession of any of these sorts of images – indecent images of children – amount to grave offences. And that is all the more so in light of somebody who has the previous convictions which you do." The judge expressed she was completely satisfied that Speller presented a serious risk of harm to the public, jailing him for two years and eight months with an extended four years on licence.
In mitigation, Emma Hornby argued that Speller had spent most of his adult life institutionalised in prison and was at a low ebb when he committed the offences. She emphasised: "This is a man who’s been in prison for the majority of his life and clearly that isn’t working. He requires help and support and intervention."
Speller will serve two-thirds of his sentence in custody before eligibility for release and will remain on the sex offenders' register for life. He was also made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. The case was reported by The Echo News, drawing on details from Oxford Crown Court proceedings.