Paul Davies [2019] EWCA Crim 920

The appellant was a 57-year-old serving police officer, through his role as a Young Persons Officer he met two 17-year-old students at a local college.

At some stage the appellant provided one of the students with his personal mobile number and their messaging became flirtatious, he sent naked images of himself to her and encouraged her to do the same. She sent images on five occasions via snapchat and the appellant screenshot them, thereby saving the images to his phone.

At the sentence hearing it was agreed that as he encouraged the complainant to take and send the images and then screenshot them it would be treated as production rather than possession of the images.

He appealed the sentence of nine months’ imprisonment on the ground the sentence should have been suspended.

Held: the categorisation of the offence was correct although it was accepted that there was no evidence that the offending had had an unusually detrimental effect on the complainant. The appellant had positive good character but had used this to facilitate the offence. In all of the circumstances it was unavoidable that a custodial sentence would be imposed. The appeal was dismissed.