Lottery winner convicted of sex offences

The BBC reports that a convicted sex offender who admitted running a paedophile ring using mobile phones blamed winning the lottery for his actions. The man from Norwich was sentenced to three years and four months.

In mitigation, it was said by his solicitor, Michael Clare that he lost control when he won £50,000 on the lottery. Apparently the man had used the lottery money to invest in mobile phones. He admitted a number of counts of possession of indecent photographs of children and failing to comply to the requirements of the sex offender register.

Sections 45 to 51 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 deals with indecent photography of children (including those aged 16 or 17).

The 2003 Act also deals with notification and registration requirements for sex offenders. Section 80 to 92 re-enact with amendments, Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997, which established a requirement on sex offenders to notify certain personal details to the police. Sections 80 to 81 set out the persons who are required to comply, and Schedule 3 of the Act sets out a list of offences under previous and present legislation where an offender will be required to notify the authorities.