Ex-headmaster found with child porn is freed after blaming Parkinson's drug

A former headmaster who had thousands of child porn pictures on his computer walked free from court yesterday after blaming the drugs he was taking for Parkinson's disease.

Phillip Carmichael said they made him hypersexually active.

Oxford Crown Court was told that the 8,000 images included one level five photograph - the most serious category - and four level four videos.

Carmichael, 58, who shook as he sat in court, was given an absolute discharge after admitting 11 charges.

Judge Mary Jane Mowat said his case was 'wholly exceptional' and rejected a prosecution appeal that he should at least be put under supervision.

Medical experts called by both defence and prosecution agreed that hypersexuality was a known side-effect of the drugs.

Carmichael, who retired from his primary school on health grounds in 1999, was arrested in September 2007 after police raided his home.

His lawyer Roger Harrison said his client had no culpability because the drugs he was taking had caused him to act in the way he did.

He said: 'It is a tragic case. He had a 27-year teaching career which was impeccable in every way and he had the respect and responsibility of people of a whole range of ages.'

He said Carmichael, of Wantage, Oxfordshire, suffered from Parkinson's disease and Graves' disease, and had been prescribed the drugs Cabergoline and Ropinirole to relieve his symptoms.

Mr Harrison said that hypersexuality - defined as being excessively interested or involved in sexual activity - was a recognised side-effect of such drugs, along with compulsive gambling and compulsive shopping. Cabergoline has since been withdrawn from use.

Describing his client's other symptoms, Mr Harrison told the court: 'He made unnecessary catalogue purchases. He paints and his painting became messy and aggressive.'

Former head teacher Phillip Carmichael, given an absolute discharge for downloading child pornography

The court heard that all the images were downloaded while Carmichael was on the drugs - he stopped taking them after his arrest - except for one of a nine-year-old girl, which he was said to be 'mystified' about.

Judge Mowat told the court she would disregard this as it was entirely separate from the bulk of the images.

She said: 'This is a wholly exceptional and very distressing case. He was not only an ill man at the time, but a man whose medication can be described as ultimately responsible for the commital of these offences. To say that he was to blame would be a complete denial of the reality of the evidence that I see.'

Rejecting the prosecution call for supervision, she said: 'Mr Carmichael is now subject to medical supervision. He has a loyal family and friends and support network. I cannot see that anything would be achieved by engaging the probation service.'

The judge said she did not consider Carmichael was likely to re-offend or that it was necessary to ban him from working with children, as his medical condition prevented him from doing so.

Michelle Elliot, founder of the children's charity Kidscape, called the decision 'a disgrace'.

She said: 'This sends out a completely wrong message - that medication can turn you into a child pornographer. Anybody who is taking medication for this disease will feel insulted.

'It also says that it doesn't matter about the victims. It is one of the most bizarre defences I have heard, and I'm amazed it has succeeded.'