Bad Belgian busted by kinky iTunes openness

A Belgian man who pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children while on a visit to Manchester in January was last week sentenced to four months in prison.

According to a spokeswoman for Manchester Crown Court, where the miscreant appeared for sentencing on 3 March, Tim Verrydt, 23, of Kappellestraat, Mol, Belgium, was sentenced in respect of 16 counts of possessing indecent photographs (s160 Criminal Justice Act 1988) and three counts of extreme porn (s63 Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008).

Local newspapers report that the defendant had amassed some 532 films and images of children being abused, as well as 31 images of obscene acts involving animals, using internet file-sharing sites.

Verrydt was apprehended by police at Britannia Airport Hotel on Palatine Road, Northenden, on 5 January after he had inadvertently shared some of these files with a fellow guest.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service told us that this guest had been browsing at the same time as Verrydt and noticed a shared folder available on the hotel network on iTunes. They opened the folder and, horrified by the content they viewed, instantly reported the matter to the police.

On being apprehended, Verrydt was then reported as being fully cooperative, showing police where to find material, as well as helping them to extract it from his computer. Appearing before Manchester magistrates a week later, he pleaded guilty to all charges.

In addition to the four-month prison sentence, he was sentenced to seven years on the sex-offenders register and required to notify UK police if at any time he returns to the UK after he has served his time in prison. ®