This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36433568
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Patrick Rock avoids prison after child images conviction | Patrick Rock avoids prison after child images conviction |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A former aide to Prime Minister David Cameron, Patrick Rock, has avoided a prison sentence after downloading indecent images of underage girls | A former aide to Prime Minister David Cameron, Patrick Rock, has avoided a prison sentence after downloading indecent images of underage girls |
| The ex-deputy director of policy at Downing Street, of Fulham, London, was given a two-year conditional discharge after being convicted of five charges. | |
| He was acquitted of three similar counts and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining 12 charges. | He was acquitted of three similar counts and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining 12 charges. |
| Rock, 65, had admitted downloading 20 images but denied they were indecent. | Rock, 65, had admitted downloading 20 images but denied they were indecent. |
| Jurors were told that while none of the girls were naked, they were in "sexualised" poses in skimpy clothing, including swimwear and bras. | |
| 'Exploitation' | |
| Although he will not serve time in prison, Judge Alistair McCreath said Rock's punishment was "the loss of your reputation and your very public humiliation". | Although he will not serve time in prison, Judge Alistair McCreath said Rock's punishment was "the loss of your reputation and your very public humiliation". |
| "I have not lost sight of the obvious reality that right-thinking people will quite properly consider that those who did what you did should be punished for it," he said, during the hearing at Southwark Crown Court in London. | |
| "You should be. And you have been... It is a punishment which you brought on yourself but is nonetheless a very real one. And it is one that is utterly merited." | "You should be. And you have been... It is a punishment which you brought on yourself but is nonetheless a very real one. And it is one that is utterly merited." |
| The court heard that the youngest of the girls in the pictures was aged just 10 years and four months when he downloaded the image - meaning she would have been younger when it was taken. | The court heard that the youngest of the girls in the pictures was aged just 10 years and four months when he downloaded the image - meaning she would have been younger when it was taken. |
| Judge McCreath said: "These were all sexualised images of children which were, the jury found, indecent. | |
| "They represent the sexual exploitation of five young girls. | |
| "Whilst it is true that the photographs were taken by others, you and others like you who accessed and looked at these images were complicit in that exploitation." | |
| Rock must register as a sex offender for two years and was also banned from using a device with the internet unless it can retain his browsing history and he surrenders it for inspection by police over the same period. | Rock must register as a sex offender for two years and was also banned from using a device with the internet unless it can retain his browsing history and he surrenders it for inspection by police over the same period. |
| He was ordered to pay £12,500 in court costs. |