A fund services director and keen amateur photographer has been jailed for 14 months after he admitted having more than 15,000 indecent images of children on his computer.

Vincent Campbell’s Hope Street home in Douglas was raided by police on November 26. They seized two computer hard drives.

Deemster Alan Gough described Campbell’s behaviour as ’disturbing and bizarre’ as the court heard that the 66-year-old had used computer software to super-impose his own head and the head of an underage girl he knew on to indecent images.

The accountant and fund services director pleaded guilty to 11 counts of possessing indecent images of children.

He has already served almost four months on remand so he will be eligible for release in about three months’ time.

Campbell also had the period he will be on licence for after his release extended by 12 months, meaning that he will be on licence for a year after the 14-month period has ended.

He was put on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.

Prosecutor James Robinson told the court that police went to Campbell’s home at 8.40am acting on information received that he had been downloading indecent images of children.

As he was arrested Campbell said: ’Am I going to prison? There are a lot of them.’

After his computer drive was analysed police found 15,482 indecent images downloaded between July 2018 and November 2018.

A total of 180 of them were rated on the Copine scale at level five, the most severe level, with 2,820 rated at level four.

Campbell had used cut and paste functions to alter images and super-impose himself into them.

One image featured Campbell’s super-imposed head on the body of a man who was cupping a girl’s breasts. The girl’s head was super-imposed with the head of the young girl who Campbell knew.

He told police that all the images sourced were freely available on the internet and that he was not a member of any club sharing images, nor had he paid for any images.

A probation report was critical of Campbell, saying there was still ’an element of denial’.

Campbell was said to have been suffering ’emotional loneliness’, having a stressful time at work and coming home to an empty house as his wife was in Thailand.

The report recommended that he be kept on licence for the longest period possible to allow time for appropriate interventions to take place and said that a treatment plan would be put in place after his sentencing.

Campbell entered a basis of plea saying that, when he was arrested, the police did not mention level five images but he accepted the computer analysis.

He said he had initially searched for mainstream pornography but had then clicked on links he knew would access indecent images of children.

Defence advocate Stephen Wood said that his client’s wife was standing by him and the couple had property in Thailand with two acres which Campbell intended to retire to once he was allowed to leave the island.

Mr Wood said that Campbell had said that he would welcome professional assistance in the future.

’That acceptance of the need for assistance is the first indication he is willing to accept help,’ said the advocate. ’That is not the man in denial mentioned in the probation report.

’He provided pin numbers and passwords and assisted officers in the investigation.

’At the first time of asking he entered guilty pleas. This is pointing to a man that recognises he has done wrong. He’s not in denial, he’s asking for help.’

community

Mr Wood went on to say that over the years Campbell had served the community, raising money for charity and photographing various events for free.

He continued: ’Clearly, at his time of life, he is not looking for gainful employment. He is looking for a quiet retirement. Upon release he has an address to go to. What he really wants to do is to go to Thailand to be with his wife. She is understanding, and whilst not condoning it, she is willing to forgive. I understand because of his marriage he will be allowed in. But if they have been apart a very long time they may think the marriage is a sham.’

Deemster Gough said that he had viewed a selection of the images and most had featured children who appeared to be Thai or from the Far East. He asked if anything should be read into that.

Mr Wood replied: ’If this is suggesting he wishes to go to Thailand for alternative reasons I would strongly argue that this is not the case. He wishes to emigrate for one reason, to be with his wife.’

Deemster Gough said while passing sentence: ’Most disturbing is this bizarre practice of images being super-imposed with his own face.

’The sexualising of the underage girl is most concerning.

’He intended a quiet retired life, his actions have thwarted that plan.

’There is some denial regarding his sexual interest in children.’

Campbell was also made the subject of a five-year Sexual Offenders’ Prevention Order (SOPO).