Man imprisoned for child indecent image offenses

A 71-year-old man has been incarcerated after admitting to the creation of thousands of indecent images of children. Philip Wood, who resides on Westgate Street in Gloucester, received his sentence at Gloucester Crown Court following his guilty pleas to eight counts of producing these images and nine counts of violating a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). Wood was initially issued the SHPO in 2020 when he was sentenced at the same court for a series of prior sexual offenses. On October 23, he was sentenced to three years in prison and will remain a registered sex offender for the remainder of his life. A condition of the SHPO imposed on Wood in 2020 prohibited him from possessing electronic devices, such as laptops or mobile phones, without declaring them to the police for inspection. However, during home visits conducted by police between August 2023 and May 2024, he was found to be in possession of undeclared devices containing indecent images of children. He was also discovered to be using an online pseudonym, which was another activity he was banned from undertaking. Police located over 134,172 indecent photographs of children and 150 hours of video footage across these devices. Wood entered his guilty plea on August 7 and informed the court that rehabilitation courses he had attended had not been effective. Detective Constable Martin Hayward, of Gloucestershire Police, stated that Wood had “made determined attempts to avoid detection” and had “shown a disregard to the court order”. He further added: “Making indecent images of children is child sexual abuse, and perpetrators have harmed children by creating this material.” Hayward concluded, “We are determined to protect those who are most vulnerable in our society from dangerous offenders.”