Colin Doak was caught with hundreds of child abuse images too vile for even a judge to describe
Sentencing Colin Doak at Antrim Crown Court on Friday, Judge Laura Ievers KC highlighted that “the descriptions of the images in this case are such that I will refrain from reading them as part of the sentencing remarks.”
Suffice to say, she told the court, the imagery was “depraved,” included very young children and even new-born babies involved in penetrative sexual acts “clearly showing distress.”
At an earlier hearing Belfast man Doak, whose address is now the subject of a court-imposed reporting restriction over previous incidents, entered guilty pleas to all bar one of the 23 charges against him.
Committed between 23 March 2022 and 8 March 2023, the charges include three counts of distributing or showing indecent images and a video, 13 charges of making indecent images and videos and three counts each of having prohibited images and extreme pornography.
The particulars of the charges disclose that Doak’s offending relates to images and videos at categories A, B and C and according to legal guidelines, images at level A depict children involved in penetrative sexual acts, including being raped.
During her sentencing remarks on Friday, Judge Ievers told the court how the South Western Organised Crime unit based in England contacted the PSNI in February 2023 to report “that the defendant had been sending images to an undercover police officer through an encrypted messenger.”
The court heard that before the report was made, Doak had shared category A and B videos and photographs with the undercover officer.
As a result of that intelligence being swapped between the forces, officers from the PSNI Child Internet Protection Team raided Doak’s home and seized multiple devices.
One of those devices, Judge Ievers told the court, was found to contain some 1,797 illegal files including 714 videos and images at category A level.
In relation to those horrific images, the judge said the description of them “makes it clear that there were very young children, including babies, and the images clearly show pain and distress on their part.”
Arrested and interviewed, Doak “made full and frank admissions to having the material but he denied having any sexual interest in children.”
He also claimed that having endured childhood trauma himself, he began to research it and ended up “down a rabbit hole” which in turn, led to the indecent images.
The court heard that since the offending came to light, Doak has undergone several counselling sessions and has completed a recognised rehabilitation programme.
The judge said while he had entered guilty pleas and has demonstrated “good victim insight,” those mitigating factors had to be balanced against the number and nature of the images Doak had and had even shared with the undercover police officer.
“This case does pass the custody threshold,” Judge Ievers told the court, adding that having assessed the appropriate sentence as one of 12 months, she was legally obliged to consider the imposition of an ECO.
The judge explained that “bearing in mind” Doak’s own difficult history, his remorse, victim insight, limited record and the steps he had already taken to address the underlying causes, she was minded to impose such an order.
Imposing the maximum, namely 100 hours community service and three years on probation, she warned Doak that any breach or further offence would see him breached and brought back to court facing jail.
As part of the ECO, Doak must live at an approved address and no other, is limited to how he can access the internet, is to have no contact with any child and if he develops any intimate relationship, he must make verifiable disclosure of that relationship and his convictions.
Judge Ievers said given the conditions attached to the ECO, she was refusing an application for a Sexual Offences Prevention Order but she told Doak that he would have to sign the police sex offenders register for the next five years.