Meehan freed after porn sentencing

Craig Meehan, 22, was driven from Dewsbury Magistrates' Court, in West Yorkshire, to an undisclosed location with a police escort after he was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison. He was released because he has already spent 166 days in jail on remand.

Residents living close to the home he shared with Karen Matthews, 32, on Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor, warned he will not be welcome back on the estate.

Earlier Meehan was found guilty of 11 counts of possessing indecent images of children. The counts detailed 49 different images of child abuse, including some featuring children as young as four.

The supermarket fishmonger was cleared on one count of possessing an image on a mobile phone. Meehan's computer was seized from the Moorside Road address by police searching for nine-year-old Shannon earlier this year.

Sentencing Meehan, District Judge Jonathan Bennett told him the offences were "serious matters".

He said: "The damage that has been caused to the children in these photographs is unimaginable. That is why Parliament regards these matters as so serious and why there is widespread social abhorrence of such offences. The most vulnerable in our society have to be protected."

Police categorise child abuse pictures from category one to category five, where five is the most serious.

The court heard Meehan was found guilty of possessing 30 images at level one, 10 images at level two, two images at level three and seven images at level four.

Meehan was made subject to a seven-year sexual offences prevention order which bans him from having photographs of children under 16 unless it is with permission of the child's parents. He is also prohibited from downloading or viewing any image of children, except for family photos. Access to websites relating to children was also barred under the order.