Man had indecent pictures of children

A former tram driver found with a stash of images of youngsters being abused has narrowly avoided an immediate prison term.
Paul Edensor hides his face outside court after the tram incident verdictPaul Edensor hides his face outside court after the tram incident verdict
Paul Edensor hides his face outside court after the tram incident verdict

Paul Edensor, 42, used a series of sickening search terms to find indecent images of boys, Preston Crown Court heard.

Edensor hit the headlines when he was jailed for 15 months after admitting causing a pensioner’s death on Blackpool seafront by careless driving in 2010.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The court heard although Edensor, now of Elcho Street, Preston, has a criminal history he has no offences relating to children on his record.

Prosecuting, Jon Close said: “The images were predominantly of boys of a pre pubescent age. On June 15, 2015 officers visited the defendant’s then home on Alexander Road, Thornton, where they seized a computer. A subsequent investigation revealed 785 images, 164 at category B and 611 at category C.”

He pleaded guilty to making indecent photographs between December 24, 2014 and June 16, 2015, while he still lived in Thornton.

Preston Crown Court heard when challenged, he suggested other people who had access to his laptop were responsible.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A cleaner application programme was installed on the laptop to wipe files.

Judge Robert Altham said: “It isn’t just an offence on your part of looking at something, it is an offence that involves generating a demand for child abuse because each of the children in these images is a real living breathing child who has been sexually abused.”

He suspended his 46 week sentence for two years, imposing 120 hours unpaid work and a five years sexual harm prevention order.