First Internet child-porn jailing

A father of two from Solihull, West Midlands, yesterday became the first person in Britain to be jailed for receiving child pornography through the Internet.

Martin Crumpton, 44, a former computer consultant, was jailed for three months after admitting six charges of being in possession of indecent pictures of children. He had admitted the specimen charges at a preliminary hearing in December, when his case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports. His arrest followed Operation Starburst, an international police crackdown last July.

John Davies, for the prosecution, had told Birmingham magistrates that Crumpton had admitted possessing the pictures out of a "morbid curiosity". A police expert found three files on his computers holding 119 pictures. The majority were indecent photographs of children, some only six years old.Fergal Bloomer, for the defence, said: "Over a short period of time, due to considerable financial difficulty and death within the family, he has become withdrawn."