A man has been jailed for 12 years after a jury convicted him of making, possessing and distributing indecent pictures of children while he was on parole from prison.

Sam Hewings, 28, of Hadley Road, Cam was told by Judge Ian Lawrie QC at Gloucester Crown Court yesterday (Jan 19) that he considered him 'dangerous.'

The judge extended the 12 year sentence by adding an additional three years parole, which means Hewings could be recalled to prison any time until January 2037.

In November last year a Jury had taken just 48 minutes to reach guilty verdicts on seven charges against Hewings. He had a previous similar conviction in 2007 and in February 2017 he had attempted to abduct a girl.

Judge Lawrie told Hewings: “You are here because you contested a variety of offences of a sexual nature. One of the main concerns I have is that you have a fixation for child images and child sex.

“One interpretation of this could be obsessive. What is sinister about your fixation obsession is that you made no concession or admission that you are responsible for viewing those images or going beyond being a mere spectator to that of a participant by having sexual contact with a child.

“That was supported by a previous conviction in which you persuaded a very young girl to travel from Oxfordshire to meet with you in Gloucester. You had a rucksack containing duck tape, scissors and ground up pain killers.

“What this tells me is that you think about these things and plan these things. You are obviously capable of putting plans into action. The risk therefore in the future is significant.

“I’ve little doubt that you would progress to carrying out a meeting in the future if you met somebody from this country. It is a risk which I am not prepared to ignore.

“You have been convicted by a jury on compelling evidence for the offences which included the exchange of indecent explicit images with a young girl in Southern California in America.

“You have also breached an earlier sexual harm prevention order.

“I consider you being classified as dangerous and I will extend your sentence. Fate has finally caught up with you. There is so much in your history that poses a significant risk.

“I have little doubt that if you are not watched carefully you will commit further similar offences.”

Hewings was found guilty of making indecent images between August 23, 2019 and January 8, 2020 namely five images of category A, three of category B and one image of category C; making two category A images between December 12 and 28, 2019; and that between December 13 and December 28 he incited a girl under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity and on January 7, 2020 he had deleted items of his browsing history contravening the terms of a sexual harm prevention order issued in November 2017.

The trial heard from former police officer Wendy Heaton, who explained to the jury that Hewings was one of the sexual offenders assigned to her to monitor throughout the year.

She said that as he was subject to a sexual harm prevention order limiting his use of the internet, she made an unannounced visit to his home on January 7th 2020 and carried out an initial check of the devices he had in front of him.

The devices were subsequently seized and a forensic examination of Hewings’ devices was carried out and incriminating evidence found.

Kannan Siva, defending, said Hewings maintained that he was not responsible for these search terms and suggested that while he was in a hostel prior to being paroled from prison others had access to his devices.

The judge sentenced Hewings to two years in prison for the breach of the original sexual harm prevention order. This will be followed by a ten year custodial term for the sexual offences he was found guilty of at trial.

This will be extended by a further three years parole after release.

The judge also subjected Hewings the terms of a sexual harm prevention order for life that includes limiting his use of the internet and for him to remain on the sex offenders’ register for the same time period.