'Dangerous and deceptive' Peterborough man jailed after being found with thousands of indecent child images

Police officers discovered Michael Robins, 61, had breached his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) by having access to the internet on an unregistered laptop computer during a routine visit to his home in Lincoln Road, Peterborough, on 27 November last year.

Robins was arrested and an examination of his laptop uncovered more than 5,000 indecent images or videos of children. Of these, 969 were classified as Category A, the most severe.

On Friday (April 6) Robins appeared at Peterborough Crown Court having previously pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order. He was sentenced to four years in prison and a further two on extended licence. The previous order had been imposed in July 2015 following a conviction for possessing indecent images of children.

Sentencing, His Honour Judge Lowe said: “I have no hesitation in finding that you are still dangerous and deceptive in the way you tried to hide equipment and delayed answering the door to the police.

“You have a deep-rooted and long-standing interest in children, which you have failed to address. A custodial sentence is necessary to protect the public.”

Detective Constable Greg Homer-Ward said: “Robins is a serial offender who showed a complete disregard for the conditions of his order.

“I hope the sentence in this case sends out a strong message that breaches of orders such as this are taken incredibly seriously.

“Protecting children and bringing sex offenders to justice are priorities for the constabulary.”