A Peel man has been jailed after admitting seven charges of possessing indecent images of children.

Joshua James Tweedy, aged 24, of Bluebell Close, was jailed, for the second time in two years, on Friday by Deemster Graeme Cook.

On March 21, police received information from their UK counterparts about an IP address, which was traced to Tweedy, receiving indecent images.

Tweedy was arrested and gave a ’no comment’ interview but did provide the passwords for all of his electronic devices.

Prosecutor Roger Kane said five images/videos were rated at four on the Copine Scale, used to measure the severity of images from one to five, with five being the most severe.

Mr Kane said the description of the videos provided by a senior police officer was ’difficult to read’ and couldn’t see how ’anyone could watch and listen to them’.

The experienced police officer’s report said one of the videos was ’the most harrowing video’ he’d ever seen or heard. The images/videos were said to include girls aged between two and three years old and another who was believed to be seven.

Tweedy was also a member of a website where he had posted images of Manx girls in ’various nonsexual situations’ including ones of girls in school uniform. The images attracted vile comments from other contributors to the website.

Mr Kane said it was clear that Tweedy ’has a specific interest in young females’.

The second charge Tweedy faced was two public order offences which occurred while on police bail.

On July 7, he went into the Marine public house in Peel and was said to be in an ’emotional state’. The licensee walked him home but saw he had a chain wrapped around his hand which she took off him and said he could have it back the next day.

hammer

Shortly afterwards, he returned to the pub and a customer shouted ’he has a hammer’. The landlady locked the door and he began it. She then went outside and took the hammer off him and went back inside to phone the police.

Tweedy was then seen to have a knife which he was found holding as he sat on the floor when police turned up. He handed it to officers when they arrived.

Mr Kane said that in a police interview, Tweedy said he’d been drinking heavily and ’could give no reason for having them [the hammer and knife], but did admit that they were his, he added that he didn’t intend to harm anyone.

Defence advocate David Reynolds said Tweedy had been told he would receive treatment after a previous conviction last year, but this hadn’t happened.

Mr Reynolds said that his client had given a ’no comment’ interview, but he had provided passwords for the electronic devices when asked to provide them. He added that Tweedy had been found in possession of a ’relatively small’ number of images.

He said that Tweedy suffers from an adjustment disorder meaning ’he can’t deal with changes or challenges’. He added that Tweedy has been identified as a ’vulnerable person’.

Both of Tweedy’s parents have died in recent years.

His mother died without him being able to see her following his release from prison earlier this year.

He was described as a ’very isolated person’ and of ’no real danger to anyone’, other than himself during the incident outside the Marine public house. Mr Reynolds also said his client had ’found it difficult to settle’ after his release from prison and that he is ’clearly someone who needs help’.

Deemster Cook, addressing Tweedy, referenced the police officer’s report on the images, which he said were ’extremely disturbing’, especially those involving very young children.

He added that the videos involving the two- and three-year-olds ’will destroy their lives’ and that ’these videos only get made because people like you watch them’.

Deemster Cook sentenced Tweedy to a total of 16 months for the possession of indecent images and the public order offences but said it ’amazes me’ that his sentencing powers in regards to the weapons is so lacking compared to the UK where the offences carry multi-year sentences.

Tweedy has also been placed on a sexual offences prevention order ’indefinitely’ which will prevent him from buying electronic devices capable of accessing the internet or storing images without informing the police and providing the details of these devices.

When he is released from prison, Tweedy will be subject to an extended licence period of three years and will be on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.