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Child porn convict complains sentence has ‘damaged his spiritual life’

A churchgoer who downloaded child porn challenged his sentence after claiming it bars him from attending services and has ‘seriously damaged his spiritual life’.

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Adrian Miles had 6,000 indecent photos on his computer and a USB stick

Adrian Paul Miles, aged 50, received a 12-month suspended sentence at Wolverhampton Crown Court in September after he admitted making and possessing indecent images of children.

Miles was prosecuted after 6,000 low level indecent photos were discovered on his computer and a USB stick.

On top of the suspended sentence, Miles was handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

The order means that for a decade, Miles will to ensure his computer history is available for police to inspect.

It also bars him from contact with children, except where it is ‘inadvertent or in the ordinary course of daily life’.

Miles, of Short Street, Darlaston, challenged the SHPO at London’s Appeal Court. He claimed it was not needed and its harsh terms even made it difficult for him to attend church.

But Judge Martyn Zeidman QC, sitting with Lord Justice Treacy and Mrs Justice May, said he had no doubt the order was ‘necessary’.

He pointed out the judge, who sentenced Miles, had ‘real concerns’ that ‘from time to time he was unable to control his sexual urges’. There were fears he could become ‘hyper-sexual’ during periods of mental instability, said Judge Zeidman.

“Given the history and the circumstances, the order was necessary. There is no arguable case to the contrary,” he ruled.

Miles claimed the SHPO would make it hard for him to attend church due to the proximity of children.

Before his sentence, the court heard Miles had been a ‘frequent churchgoer’.

But he told the judge he has avoided church since then due to fear of breaching the order.

Judge Zeidman said Miles would not be in breach so long as he did not make contact with any children.

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