16/09/2008

Meehan Found Guilty Of Child Porn Possession

Craig Meehan, the former partner of Shannon Matthews' mother has been found guilty of possessing child pornography.

Twenty-two-year-old Craig Meehan - who had denied charges of possessing indecent images of children - was convicted today at Dewsbury Magistrates' Court.

The supermarket fishmonger was convicted of 11 counts relating to the possession of 49 indecent images of children. He was cleared of one count of possessing an image on a mobile phone.

Meehan's computer was seized from the home he shared with Karen Matthews in Dewsbury Moor, West Yorkshire.

The machine was taken by police who were investigating the disappearance of Karen's nine-year-old daughter Shannon, in February.

The court heard indecent images of children aged between four and 16 were discovered on one of the two computers found in the Moorside Road home.

The images were ranked at levels one to four - where five is the most serious.

Craig Meehan had claimed he was not responsible for downloading the images, saying there were occasions in the house when the house was busy and people would have had access to the computer.

However, the jury was told it was "extremely unlikely" that anyone other than the accused would have been responsible, as he was not at work when the pictures were downloaded.

The defendant is due to be sentenced on Thursday.

(JM)

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