Sunderland man spared jail over troubling WhatsApp pictures

A WhatsApp user caught with an image of a female having sex with a dog has kept his freedom. Police had examined Alexander Winchester's mobile phone during a routine visit to his home in October 2021, as a result of his previous convictions. Newcastle Crown Court heard two illegal images were found, one of which was a pseudo photograph of a child and the other showed a female having sexual activity with a dog. The court heard in 2017 Winchester was convicted of having sexual communication with an undercover police officer who he thought was a 13-year-old girl. He was back in court in 2020 for breach of a sexual harm prevention order by failing to declare two mobile phones. This time, Winchester, 26, of Hadrian Street, Sunderland, admitted making a pseudo photograph of a child and possessing extreme pornography. Robin Patton, defending, said the images had been sent to Winchester on a WhatsApp group and he knew that if he deleted anything from his phone that in itself could place him in breach of the Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Mr Patton said Winchester now has an old Nokia device, which is not capable of receiving WhatsApp messages or similar. Judge Edward Legard said Winchester has been assessed as a low risk of re-offending and sentenced him to a community order for 12 months with 100 hours unpaid work.