Gary Talbot sentenced for possessing more than 95,000 indecent images

Convicted sex offender Gary Talbot has been sentenced for possessing just under 100,000 indecent pictures and videos of children.

Talbot, 63, from Newcastle, was sentenced in 2020 to 15 years for crimes including two rapes, gross indecency and indecent assault.

Talbot was returned to court on Wednesday where he was handed an extended custodial sentence comprising of four years in jail.

He admitted the 25 charges against him.

The charges included 15 charges of making indecent images of children, five charges of possessing prohibited images of children and five counts of possessing extreme pornographic images spanning from March 2008 to June 2016.

The sentence was imposed at Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast.

Talbot was also handed an extended licence period of three years.

Judge Geoffrey Miller KC branded Talbot – who appeared via videolink from Maghaberry prison – a dangerous offender.

The indecent image charges arose from a search of Talbot’s home in November 2017, which was prompted by an investigation into claims made against Talbot and his wife Heather by their child victim.

Heather was given a nine-year sentence for aiding and abetting her husband to rape a child in the same 2020 sentencing.

While six devices including laptops and a mobile phone were seized, the charges relating to the images found were not included in the original prosecution case.

After all the devices were examined and analysed, a total of 96,522 indecent photographs and 3,167 videos were found.

When he was interviewed in November 2017, Talbot told police he had been sourcing and downloading indecent images of children for years.

Talbot also told police that while he enjoyed the “challenge” of searching for images which then became a “vicious cycle”, he denied having a sexual attraction to children.

He has repeated this while in custody and told a probation officer that his interest in sourcing the images “isn’t a sexual thing”.

This claim was rejected by Judge Miller who said: “This is patently at odds with everything that is known about him from both the material he amassed over the years of offending, together with the gravity and depravity of the contact offences forming the background to the original police investigation.”

Defence submissions revealed Talbot has completed 13 courses since being jailed, and has expressed remorse and shame for his actions.

His barrister also pointed out that when arrested Talbot told police there would be images of children on the devices, adding his client pleaded guilty to all 25 of the current charges.

The term imposed will run concurrently to the sentence already being served by Talbot.

The earliest date for his release is 2027 and he will remain subject to licence conditions until 2041, when he will be aged 82.