R v SIQ

Facts

The Offender, aged 20 at sentence, pleaded guilty to a series of offences arising from indecent and prohibited images of children found on his mobile devices. The offending fell into three categories: possession, distribution and production. The production offence concerned a 54-second video he made by placing a device on the floor of his 10-year-old sister's bedroom, which recorded her undressing without her knowledge; that video and screenshots from it were shared in online chatrooms and discussed by him and others in explicitly sexual terms. The distribution offences involved 112 Category A, 61 Category B and 93 Category C images, and the possession offences a further 1,383 Category A, 1,280 Category B and 1,196 Category C images, together with 133 prohibited images of children. Online chats revealed a sustained sexual interest in children, including in his sister. He made full and frank admissions at a second interview on 21 February 2025, was charged on 20 November 2025, and pleaded guilty to all offences at the Magistrates' Court on 12 February 2026. On 10 April 2026 His Honour Judge Melville, in the Crown Court at Portsmouth, imposed a 2-year community order with mental health treatment, programme and rehabilitation activity requirements, together with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 5 years. His Majesty's Solicitor General sought leave to refer the sentence as unduly lenient under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.