'Entrenched' paedophile locked up due to concerns over being danger to the public

Wayne Bayliss, 51, from Meadowbrook, Bayston Hill, was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court after admitting a host of charges.

Bayliss pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of indecent images of children - in Category A, B, and C, as well as three counts of distributing indecent images of children, again in Category A, B, and C.

He also admitted two charges of breaching a sexual harm prevention order, and one count of attempting to breach a sexual harm prevention order.

Danny Smith, prosecuting, said: "Wayne Bayliss is a registered sex offender who has an entrenched history of committing offences relating to indecent images of children."

He said that Bayliss, who has an 18-year history of offending, had been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order in 2019, which included restrictions on his use of electronic devices.

The court heard that in March 2023 an undercover officer had come across Bayliss online - who was using the username 'Topdude1975'.

Mr Smith said that the sting revealed that Bayliss was a member of a group called 'Dirty Paedo Babies'.

Referring to records of the chat log Mr Smith said: "It is fair say those are messages that are overtly paedophilic."

The court heard Bayliss told the undercover officer he 'liked five to 12 year old girl pics', adding that he "wanted to see girls on the cusp of puberty".

Mr Smith said that Bayliss had sent a number of images to the officer, showing children as young as six and seven years old.

He added: "Anyone seeing those images would ordinarily be horrified."

The court heard officers had raided Bayliss' house on November 26, 2024.

They found him in his bedroom with a mobile telephone on the edge of the bed. 

Mr Smith said that when police opened the phone it 'candidly displayed category A images of children'.

The device was found to contain 46 category A images, 17 category B images, and 99 category C images.

There were also three category A movies.

Toshiba laptop

A Toshiba laptop was recovered during the raid, which was found to contain a host of indecent images, from babies up to 16 year olds.

Mr Smith said that analysis of the laptop also showed Bayliss had been speaking with an account which identified as an 11-year-old girl, and he had requested sexual images from her.

Mr Smith said: "He has an open sexual interest in children and despite orders of the court and previous terms of imprisonment he is intent on not curtailing that interest."

The court heard Bayliss has eight convictions for 39 previous offences.

Mr Smith added: "He has a history of 18 years of committing online child sex offences and breaching the terms of his sexual harm prevention order."

Kevin Jones, mitigating, said Bayliss deserved credit for his early guilty plea adding that he has a 'modest to low IQ'.

Sentencing, Judge Recorder Gregory Bull, said Bayliss' previous convictions were "rather depressing".

He said: "I have no hesitation in coming to the view you present a danger to the public and are a danger of committing serious offences in the future."

Recorder Bull noted that Bayliss had failed to comply with orders and was "totally unwilling to try and learn from the past".

He added: "I am quite satisfied when your period of custody comes to an end you will still pose a serious risk to the public. That is why an extended sentence is necessary in my view."

Bayliss was given a six year sentence with four years in prison, and two years extended on licence.

He must remain on the sex offenders register for life.