Shropshire Star

Council worker denies indecent child images charges

A council worker has denied having 101 of the most serious indecent images of children as well as recording further films of children.

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Wayne Beesley, 39, who worked for Wrexham Council, has previously admitted downloading lower category images of children, after more than 12,000 were found on computers, laptops and hard drives seized from his home.

But he is now on trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court after denying one count relating to 101 Category A images and two further counts relating to videos found on his phone of children, which he recorded.

Beesley denies that the two videos are indecent and says they were recorded innocently.

The images were found when police visited his home at Brookfield Close, Weston Rhyn, near Oswestry, on December 5, 2016.

Opening the case yesterday, prosecutor Paul Whitfield said Beesley's phone, tower PC, hard drives and other devices were seized by officers who found thousands of images as well as searches for "notorious" websites and software which could be used to clear a hard drive.

The most serious images, which he stands trial for, were found in the recycle bin on the PC, with less serious videos, filmed by Beesley, found on his LG mobile phone.

Mr Whitfield said Beesley was twice interviewed by police, before the images were found where he said nothing would be recovered from his devices and afterwards, when he offered "no comment" to questioning.

Mr Whitfield said: "It is the crown's case that the defendant has a particular sexual interest in children."

Beesley denies one count of making indecent images, referring to the downloading of the category a images, and two charges of taking indecent images.

The trial continues.

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