Pervert is spared jail term through delay at courts

A paedophile caught for a second time with child-abuse images has been spared jail because of inexplicable delays in bringing his case to court.

- by Nick Frame

Christian Bennett was first warned about his vile interests in 2020 after he was found to have trawled the internet for illegal material, but was caught out again in June 2022.

It took two years to bring the case to Leeds Crown Court, the 34-year-old appearing this week.

Judge Kate Rayfield called the delay "unacceptable" and told Bennett: "There's only one reason why I'm not locking you up; it's because these offences are quite old and I have no idea why it has taken so long to come to court."