Indecent images lead police to ammunition haul

POLICE found illegal ammunition at the home of a Walsgrave man who had been downloading indecent images of children, a judge has heard.

Andrew Faulkner, of Shillingstone Close at the time, was in breach of a sexual offences prevention order imposed in 2009 for having indecent images, but was not jailed.

The 44-year-old was sentenced to four months in prison suspended for two years after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to possessing illegal expanding ammunition, possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate, possessing indecent images of children and breaching his sexual offences prevention order.

But as he had spent almost three months in custody on remand, he walked free from Warwick Crown Court. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for seven years.

The court heard in August West Midlands Police child protection unit were tipped off by Facebook that someone using the name Helen Barnes had been uploading indecent images.

Laptop computers and mobile phones were seized from the user's address, which turned out to be Faulkner’s home at the time.

On the mobile phone were 77 indecent images of children in all five levels of seriousness although the majority were at the lowest level. Specialist officers found also found our indecent photographs of children in a car manual in the garage.

At the time of the court hearing Faulkner's laptop was still being examined with more images expected to be discovered although it had been decided to take no further action, said prosecutor Neil Bannister.

During their search of the house, officers also came across 17 illegal expanding .308 rifle cartridges, one .300 Winchester Magnum cartridge and six other rifle cartridges.

The court was told the sexual offences prevention order, which prohibited Faulkner from accessing the internet to obtain images of children, had been imposed in October 2009 when he had been given a 12-month suspended prison sentence for possessing indecent images of children.

Jennifer Josephs, defending, added Faulkner had been an avid member of a shooting club until he had his firearms certificate revoked and he should not have retained the ammunition.

Judge Marten Coates told him: "I am quite mystified that, having been before the courts and had your warning, you have committed the offence again.

"If you had not already spent the equivalent of five months in custody I would be sending you back to prison."

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