Latest news with #MatthewIsles
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
Ex-NHS consultant caught with paedophile manual and 90,000 images of children
A former NHS consultant was caught with a paedophile manual and 90,000 images of children. Matthew Isles, who worked as an ear, nose and throat specialist prior to his arrest in February, had built up a 'staggeringly vast' collection over five years, Stoke Crown Court heard on Wednesday. He was jailed for three years after he was caught by an undercover police officer trying to engage in sexual conversation with someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy. Judge Richard McConaghy jailed the former consultant, who worked at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital, Stafford, and had a 22-year career in the Armed Forces before that, for three years and 10 months in relation to 13 offences. Isles had previously admitted two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, voyeurism, three counts of making indecent images of children, possession of a paedophile manual, three counts of distributing indecent images of children, possession of prohibited images of children, and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images. The judge told the 53-year-old, who wore a dark suit and a blue striped tie and carried a large black bag, that submissions by his barrister Phil Bradley KC that he should be given a suspended sentence were 'optimistic'. He said: 'Each and every image depicts a real child suffering real sexual abuse, some of it of the most depraved kind imaginable.' Hunter Gray, the prosecution counsel, told the court that Isles engaged in 'sexually explicit conversation of a grooming nature' with an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old boy on a gay dating site between Jan 25 and Feb 6 this year. While he initially ended the chat after finding out the age of the boy he believed he was speaking to, saying he did not want to be sent to prison, Isles later continued the conversation, which involved chatting about 'hooking up'. When officers visited Isles' address in Whiston, near Cheadle in Staffordshire, on Feb 10 to arrest him, a large quantity of items were seized, including more than 90,000 images and videos on different devices. Isles also had voyeuristic images in a folder called 'Spycam', featuring him and a female he had filmed. Mr Gray said while the interaction was consensual, the woman did not know she was being filmed and did not consent to being recorded. Also on his devices were a paedophile manual with instructions on how to abuse children and images that had been distributed on at least three different platforms. Mr Gray said there was a 'high volume' of images found, including 1,978 category A images, 1,317 category B images, 2,134 category C images and 459 prohibited images of children, with many more that had not been categorised. Isles had also attempted to engage in sexual communication with a 15-year-old female, which Judge McConaghy described as 'utterly calculated grooming'. In a police interview, Isles admitted having an 'addiction to sex, pornography and child abuse material, and an addiction to collecting child sex abuse images' over the space of five years, Mr Gray said. Defending, Mr Bradley said Isles had made efforts to address his behaviour. He said: 'The criminal behaviour that this defendant is responsible for is reprehensible and seen through the eyes of disgust by right-thinking members of society. 'Catastrophic fall from grace' 'This man, by his own actions, has authored his own downfall. His is a catastrophic fall from grace. His career is in tatters, he simply cannot go back. The impact of his offending is felt by his family and friends who continue to support him. 'Within a relatively short period of time – five years – he descended into a dark hole, a dark area, but it seems he kept digging. 'He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, knowing the offences to which he pleaded are indeed serious. Some of the material was plainly disgusting, there is no getting behind that. Real children and real people were involved and concerned.' Judge McConaghy said Isles, who waved at a woman in the public gallery as he was sent down, must serve half of his sentence in custody before he can be released on licence. He said: 'When police looked at your devices, there was an enormous amount of child abuse images as well as a paedophile manual. There were also pseudo-images of children. By your own admission, you have been collecting them for a number of years. There was a staggeringly vast quantity of images.' A sexual harm prevention order without limit of time was also imposed. The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust said in February that it was fully co-operating with the police in their investigation and has since confirmed that Isles was no longer one of its employees. Det Insp Alex Glover, from Staffordshire Police's public protection unit, said: 'Isles sought out and hoarded images of the most horrific abuse of children. 'The continued circulation of child sexual abuse material normalises abuse and incentivises the creation of new content. We have worked closely with NHS organisations and conducted a thorough investigation into the offences committed by Isles.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Former hospital consultant jailed for multiple child sexual offences
A former hospital consultant who had more than 90,000 images of children and tried to engage in sexual conversation with someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy has been jailed for more than three years. Dr Matthew Isles, who worked as an ear, nose and throat specialist prior to his arrest in February this year, had built up a 'staggeringly vast' collection over five years, Stoke Crown Court heard on Wednesday. Judge Richard McConaghy jailed the former consultant, who worked at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital, Stafford, and had a 22-year career in the Armed Forces before that, for three years and 10 months in relation to 13 offences. He had previously admitted two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, voyeurism, three counts of making indecent images of children, possession of a paedophile manual, three counts of distributing indecent images of children, possession of prohibited images of children and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images. The judge told the 53-year-old, who wore a dark suit and a blue striped tie in the dock and carried a large black bag, that submissions by his barrister Phil Bradley KC that he should be given a suspended sentence were 'optimistic'. He said: 'Each and every image depicts a real child suffering real sexual abuse, some of it of the most depraved kind imaginable.' Prosecution counsel Hunter Gray told the court that Isles engaged in 'sexually explicit conversation of a grooming nature' with an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old boy on a gay dating site between January 25 and February 6 this year. While he initially ended the chat after finding out the age of the boy he believed he was speaking to, saying he did not want to be sent to prison, Isles later continued the conversation which involved chatting about 'hooking up'. When officers visited Isles' address in Whiston, near Cheadle, Staffordshire, on February 10 to arrest him, a large quantity of items were seized including more than 90,000 images and videos on different devices. He also had voyeuristic images in a folder called 'Spycam' featuring him and a female he had filmed. Mr Gray said while the interaction was consensual, the woman did not know she was being filmed and did not consent to being recorded. Also on his devices were a paedophile manual with instructions on how to abuse children and images that had been distributed on at least three different platforms. Mr Gray said there was a 'high volume' of images found, including 1,978 category A images, 1,317 category B images, 2,134 category C images and 459 prohibited images of children, with many more that had not been categorised. Isles had also attempted to engage in sexual communication with a 15-year-old female, which Judge McConaghy described as 'utterly calculated grooming'. In police interview, Isles admitted having an 'addiction to sex, pornography and child abuse material and an addiction to collecting child sex abuse images' over the space of five years, Mr Gray said. Defending, Mr Bradley said Isles had made efforts to address his behaviour. He said: 'The criminal behaviour that this defendant is responsible for is reprehensible and seen through the eyes of disgust by right-thinking members of society. 'This man, by his own actions, has authored his own downfall. His is a catastrophic fall from grace. 'His career is in tatters, he simply cannot go back. The impact of his offending is felt by his family and friends who continue to support him. 'Within a relatively short period of time, five years, he descended into a dark hole, a dark area, but it seems he kept digging. 'He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity knowing the offences to which he pleaded are indeed serious. 'Some of the material was plainly disgusting, there is no getting behind that. Real children and real people were involved and concerned.' Judge McConaghy said Isles, who waved at a woman in the public gallery as he was sent down, must serve half of his sentence in custody before he can be released on licence. He said: 'When police looked at your devices, there was an enormous amount of child abuse images as well as a paedophile manual. 'There were also pseudo images of children. By your own admission, you have been collecting them for a number of years. 'There was a staggeringly vast quantity of images.' A sexual harm prevention order without limit of time was also imposed. The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) said in February that it was fully co-operating with the police in their investigation and has since confirmed that Isles is no longer one of its employees. Detective Inspector Alex Glover, from Staffordshire Police's public protection unit, said: 'Isles sought out and hoarded images of the most horrific abuse of children. 'The continued circulation of child sexual abuse material normalises abuse and incentivises the creation of new content. 'We have worked closely with NHS organisations and conducted a thorough investigation into the offences committed by Isles.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Former Stoke-on-Trent doctor jailed over child sex offences
A former hospital consultant who had more than 90,000 images of children has been jailed for more than three Matthew Isles, who worked as an ear, nose and throat specialist, had built up a "staggeringly vast" collection of images over five years, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court was told on 53-year-old also tried to engage in sexual conversation with someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy, the court Richard McConaghy jailed Isles for three years and 10 months in relation to 13 offences in all. The consultant, who had worked at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford and had a 22-year career in the armed forces before that, admitted the charges at a previous included two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, voyeurism, three counts of making indecent images of children, possession of a paedophile manual, three counts of distributing indecent images of children, possession of prohibited images of children and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images."Each and every image depicts a real child suffering real sexual abuse, some of it of the most depraved kind imaginable," the judge counsel Hunter Gray told the court that Isles engaged in "sexually explicit conversation of a grooming nature" with an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old boy on a gay dating site between 25 January and 6 he initially ended the chat after finding out the age of the boy he believed he was speaking to, saying he did not want to be sent to prison, Isles later continued the conversation, which involved chatting about "hooking up".When officers visited Isles' address in Whiston, near Cheadle, Staffordshire, on 10 February, a large quantity of items were seized, including more than 90,000 images and videos on different also had voyeuristic images in a folder called "Spycam", featuring him and a woman he had filmed without her knowledge or on his devices were a "paedophile manual" with instructions on how to abuse children and images that had been distributed on at least three different platforms. 'Plainly disgusting' Mr Gray said a "high volume" of images were found, including 1,978 category A images, 1,317 category B images, 2,134 category C images and 459 prohibited images of children, with many more that had not been police interview, Isles admitted having an "addiction to sex, pornography and child abuse material and an addiction to collecting child sex abuse images" over the space of five years, Mr Gray barrister Phil Bradley KC said Isles had made efforts to address his behaviour."His career is in tatters, he simply cannot go back. The impact of his offending is felt by his family and friends who continue to support him," Mr Bradley said."Some of the material was plainly disgusting, there is no getting behind that. Real children and real people were involved and concerned."Judge McConaghy said Isles, who waved at a woman in the public gallery as he was sent down, must serve half of his sentence in custody before he could be released on licence.A sexual harm prevention order without limit of time was also University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) said in February that it was fully co-operating with the police in their investigation and has since confirmed that Isles was no longer one of its employees. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Ex-hospital consultant jailed for multiple child sexual offences
A former hospital consultant who had more than 90,000 images of children and tried to engage in sexual conversation with someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy has been jailed for more than three years. Dr Matthew Isles, who worked as an ear, nose and throat specialist prior to his arrest in February this year, had built up a 'staggeringly vast' collection over five years, Stoke Crown Court heard on Wednesday. Judge Richard McConaghy jailed the former consultant, who worked at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital, Stafford, and had a 22-year career in the Armed Forces before that, for three years and 10 months in relation to 13 offences. He had previously admitted two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, voyeurism, three counts of making indecent images of children, possession of a paedophile manual, three counts of distributing indecent images of children, possession of prohibited images of children and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images. The judge told the 53-year-old, who wore a dark suit and a blue striped tie in the dock and carried a large black bag, that submissions by his barrister Phil Bradley KC that he should be given a suspended sentence were 'optimistic'. He said: 'Each and every image depicts a real child suffering real sexual abuse, some of it of the most depraved kind imaginable.' Prosecution counsel Hunter Gray told the court that Isles engaged in 'sexually explicit conversation of a grooming nature' with an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old boy on a gay dating site between January 25 and February 6 this year. While he initially ended the chat after finding out the age of the boy he believed he was speaking to, saying he did not want to be sent to prison, Isles later continued the conversation which involved chatting about 'hooking up'. When officers visited Isles' address in Whiston, near Cheadle, Staffordshire, on February 10 to arrest him, a large quantity of items were seized including more than 90,000 images and videos on different devices. He also had voyeuristic images in a folder called 'Spycam' featuring him and a female he had filmed. Mr Gray said while the interaction was consensual, the woman did not know she was being filmed and did not consent to being recorded. Also on his devices were a paedophile manual with instructions on how to abuse children and images that had been distributed on at least three different platforms. Mr Gray said there was a 'high volume' of images found, including 1,978 category A images, 1,317 category B images, 2,134 category C images and 459 prohibited images of children, with many more that had not been categorised. Isles had also attempted to engage in sexual communication with a 15-year-old female, which Judge McConaghy described as 'utterly calculated grooming'. In police interview, Isles admitted having an 'addiction to sex, pornography and child abuse material and an addiction to collecting child sex abuse images' over the space of five years, Mr Gray said. Defending, Mr Bradley said Isles had made efforts to address his behaviour. He said: 'The criminal behaviour that this defendant is responsible for is reprehensible and seen through the eyes of disgust by right-thinking members of society. 'This man, by his own actions, has authored his own downfall. His is a catastrophic fall from grace. 'His career is in tatters, he simply cannot go back. The impact of his offending is felt by his family and friends who continue to support him. 'Within a relatively short period of time, five years, he descended into a dark hole, a dark area, but it seems he kept digging. 'He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity knowing the offences to which he pleaded are indeed serious. 'Some of the material was plainly disgusting, there is no getting behind that. Real children and real people were involved and concerned.' Judge McConaghy said Isles, who waved at a woman in the public gallery as he was sent down, must serve half of his sentence in custody before he can be released on licence. He said: 'When police looked at your devices, there was an enormous amount of child abuse images as well as a paedophile manual. 'There were also pseudo images of children. By your own admission, you have been collecting them for a number of years. 'There was a staggeringly vast quantity of images.' A sexual harm prevention order without limit of time was also imposed. The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) said in February that it was fully co-operating with the police in their investigation and has since confirmed that Isles is no longer one of its employees. Detective Inspector Alex Glover, from Staffordshire Police's public protection unit, said: 'Isles sought out and hoarded images of the most horrific abuse of children. 'The continued circulation of child sexual abuse material normalises abuse and incentivises the creation of new content. 'We have worked closely with NHS organisations and conducted a thorough investigation into the offences committed by Isles.'
BBC News
16-06-2025
- BBC News
Staffordshire consultant admits to raft of sexual child offences
A former hospital consultant has pleaded guilty to multiple sex offences, including attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity and possessing extreme pornographic Matthew Isles, from Whiston near Cheadle, worked at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford as an ear, nose and throat 53-year-old was arrested in February and subsequently charged with a number of offences. He admitted 12 counts at North Staffordshire Justice Centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme on will be sentenced at the same court on 13 August. The charges include voyeurism, possessing a paedophile manual, distributing indecent images of a child, making indecent images and possessing a prohibited image of a University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) had previously confirmed Mr Isles was no longer an employee and said it had fully co-operated with police in the investigation. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
