Yeah yeah yeah. I know all that. Buy a quarter of hash and you're quite possibly supporting the same thing. Should people be imprisoned for that as well?

Yup. Dirty old bugger without a doubt. Deserves the humiliation. Sticking the guy in prison, however, would be totally pointless other than to make "outraged of Newbury" feel better about his/herself.

Good decision by the judge to apply a bit of common sense.

1 It could be your little daughter on the Internet.
2 I don't buy that muck either and those that do are helping to submit countries to deprivation.


The cynical side of feels it is more likely an out of touch judge, or a mutual member of the same lodge, than the application of common sense.

See you latter troll-of-the-day.

Why be offensive and call him a troll just for putting the other side of the argument? I thought this was supposed to be a forum for (intelligent) debate. Or should someone be censored for having an opinion that's different from yours?

I agree. We are all entitled to our opinion without being insulted.

Who said anything about censure? Where did I say he shouldn't post?

I just said I think he's a troll. His behaviour was disrespectful and clearly designed to inflame, I never said anything about he shouldn't be entitled to state his opinion.

But spare a thought, for those people who's and sons and daughters have been victims of those that post these vulgar pictures and the people that visit these sites (paying for it mind) encouraging more! How offensive is that!!!

Sure. Could be. An evil trade run by evil people - people who couldn't give a toss one way or the other what happens to Colin Flett of Baydon. These are the people for whom prison sentences would be appropriate.

What the guy did is wrong. He's been shamed by by. He's been totally humiliated by it. But he hasn't actually done anything to anyone. He hasn't directly harmed children, and he's now, rightly, on a sex offenders list.

I think some perspective is needed here. There's a difference between downloading pictures and actually going out and molesting children. Is there an indication that he will ever molest children? No more than suggesting anyone who downloads pornography is a rapist, surely?

It's all well and good ranting and raving and getting on a moral high-horse about this, but some perspective is needed surely? The guy downloading this stuff may well need watching, as he will now be, but the people uploading the stuff are where resources need to be directed.

If people didn't download it, people wouldn't upload it (for cash)!

This isn't about moral-high grounding, I'm no saint, but what this bloke did is the thin end of the wedge and for me child pornography is the pits.

The other thing I'd say is, coming bursting on to a forum flippantly describing a paedophile as simply a dirt old man, isn't going to win votes, not that I suggest you were, but you could have put it more sensitively than you did. It is a very emotive subject...

...that and calling someone a troll, which, it seems to JeffG, is even worse!

Not yet he isn't!

Interesting debate - which seems to centre on the idea that this has to stop or the offender will do worse, far worse - the thin end of the wedge...umm...might be worth looking at the smaller end of some other wedges whilst we are at it. Drunken behaviour Saturdays nights in town, Anti Social behaviour and so on, need I go further?

(Just spotted this.) Nobody. I said "censored" not "censured" which are two entirely different words.

Which is why he isn't in prison.

I wonder which one you meant! It looks like you and I used the wrong one!


Meanwhile, yours and our children are being photographed in pornographic pictures and if that's not bad enough, making money from it.

Hopefully, to conclude this off-topic discussion:

No - I used the one I meant to use. A troll is someone who posts something just for the sake of winding someone else up, not to add to the discussion, therefore by calling him a troll, you were saying he shouldn't have posted in the first place (= censorship). That's what I understood you to mean