February 2015
Scunthorpe man had 790 indecent images of young boys – community order given
A FORMER butcher who had 790 indecent images of young boys was told he had “serious distortions in his thinking” by a crown court judge.
Peter Hopper, 63, of Avon Road, Scunthorpe, admitted one charge of possessing indecent images of children and three of making indecent images of children.
Prosecuting at Grimsby Crown Court, Richard Butters said the possession offence related to 57 images found by police on a Compaq PC in Hopper’s living room after officers executed a search warrant at his home on March 27 last year.
A further 212 inaccessible indecent images were found on that computer, while 384 inaccessible images were found on an Aptiva computer and 137 more were on a Packard Bell PC.
Mitigating, Anthony Farrell said Hopper worked as a butcher for 22 years and also worked for the Royal Mail.
He had no previous convictions and pleaded guilty to the offences at the first opportunity.
Sentencing, Judge Kate Buckingham told Hopper: “You should recognise that there are serious distortions in your thinking that have allowed you to commit these offences.
“You must address these, otherwise you may very well be back before the court and going to custody.”
Hopper was given a three-year community order with supervision and a requirement that he completes the sex offender treatment programme.
He was also made the subject of a five-year sexual offences prevention order, will be on the sex offenders’ register for five years and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £60.
