A Southport paedophile who had over 5,000 indecent images of children on his computer has walked free from court.
Michael Pegg, 44, of Hall Street Southport, was given an 8 month suspended sentence and made to sign the sex offenders register.
Police raided the home of Pegg and his Mother on July 4th 2019.
Pegg admitted keeping the images on a laptop he shared with his mother, often connecting the device to a TV to view the images.
Pegg said his behaviour was due to heavy cannabis and ecstasy use.
Fiona McNeil, prosecuting, said: “When police took the hard drive the defendant said ‘that’s got my naughty stuff on’.”
“He said he didn’t know how he became interested in this material and said he felt disgusted in himself.
“He said he made sure the images were transferred so his mum didn’t see them on the laptop, which she also used as well.”
“He said at the time of downloading the images he was using a lot of cannabis and ecstasy.
“He denied having any sexual interest in children any longer, but accepted at the time he did.”
Judge Anil Murray said “You’re thought to be some risk to the public, however, it is thought that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in your case, given your remorse and your insight into your problems, and it’s thought your risk could be managed in the community.”
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