Serial paedophile downloaded child abuse images and breached sexual harm prevention orders.

Serial Paedophile Ordered to Destroy Laptop to Prevent Further Crimes

A serial paedophile, Andrew Davidson (63) from Belmore Gardens, Lymington, was instructed by a judge to dispose of his laptop in an effort to prevent him from engaging in further criminal activity. Davidson has a history of downloading child abuse images and violating sexual harm prevention orders.

In 2018, he was sentenced to ten months in prison in Nottingham for possessing thousands of indecent photos of children, including Category A – the most severe. At the time, Davidson was subject to a SHPO (Sexual Harm Prevention Order) for a similar offence in 2006, for which he received a suspended sentence and was ordered to participate in an internet sex offenders treatment programme.

Davidson breached an SHPO order again in 2021 and was given a suspended prison sentence. Another order was imposed but, in November, a jury at Southampton Crown Court found him guilty of breaching it yet again.

An offender monitoring company alerted authorities in October 2022 that Davidson had downloaded software onto his laptop that allowed him to browse the internet undetected. This software prevented the monitoring company from tracking his online activity, including his search history.

Police raided Davidson's home and seized all his internet-capable devices, including a Samsung mobile phone. Five child abuse images, including three in Category A, were found on the phone.

Davidson pleaded guilty to breaching the order but denied making an indecent image of a child between February 25, 2018, and June 1, 2021. However, he was found guilty by the jury at Southampton Crown Court and sent to Portsmouth for sentencing.

In defense, barrister Nicholas Gammon stated that Davidson claimed to have used the software to search for old emails and was unaware of how the indecent images "got there." Gammon added that Davidson cared for his "seriously ill" partner and she "would not be able to cope" if he were jailed.

Gammon continued: "The police are not going to leave him alone; they will monitor him very closely and he is not someone who can escape the net. My advice to him was to throw his computer away."

During sentencing, Judge Newton-Price KC agreed with the barrister, stating: "You are extremely lucky to escape an immediate custodial sentence and might want to consider Mr Gammon's suggestion to get rid of all internet devices."

Davidson was sentenced to a total of 14 months in prison, suspended for two years. He was also given a 10-year SHPO and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.