Paedophile who had UK’s worst collection of images avoids jail and keeps place at Southampton

A paedophile who was previously jailed for having the UK’s worst collection of child abuse images was caught again but avoided jail after arguing he would lose his place at the University of Southampton.

Barry Shaw was jailed six years ago after fantasising about kidnapping Madeleine McCann and downloading thousands of child sex abuse images.

In court his lawyer claimed if he was jailed, the 38-year-old would lose his spot at Southampton University, which he is currently enrolled at.

Shaw was jailed in 2012 at Belfast Crown Court, Northern Ireland, after investigators uncovered the largest collection of child abuse images from the most extreme category ever on his laptop

"Shaw has now moved to Southampton, Hampshire, and was caught by officers again who discovered he downloaded an image of a teenage girl, dressed in stockings and underwear before moving it to the recycle bin"

Shaw was labelled as a "porn addict" and someone who uses pornography to deal with stress.

Eve Shelley, defending, said: "If he was to be sent to custody today there will come a time in the future when he is released.

"But he will not be in education, he will not have university accommodation, he will not be in contact with the probation."

Shaw was then caught again in May 2017, when a grade C image of a girl dressed in stockings and posing for the camera, were located in his downloads on his phone and laptop.

He was sentenced to a 24 month community order and 15 days obligatory rehabilitation requirements.

According to the Daily Echo, the NSPCC (a child cruelty prevention charity) have labelled Shaw's actions as "disturbing", emphasising the need for "tech companies, government and law enforcement to continue to work together" and "cut this sickening material off at source".

The University of Southampton have said the following:

"The University does not condone any form of criminal activity. This is a complex situation where we must wait for the judicial process to be completed before we can activate our own internal disciplinary procedures. In this case the University has worked closely with the Police and the Probation Service to ensure that the necessary actions are in place to protect the health and safety of all its staff, students and visitors".

The Soton Tab will continue to keep you updated on this story as it develops.