'Paedophile manual' found under prisoner's bed

A prison goaurd with her hair tied back faces away from the camera and looks through a door made up of metal bars into a jail wing area beyond, She appears to be using a key in a lock in the door at waist height.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

The so-called manual was found in Lee Glover's cell at HMP Moorland

  • Published

A prisoner serving jail time for child sex abuse images will spend longer behind bars after a "paedophile manual" was found stuffed under the bed in his cell.

Officers discovered "detailed notes" written by Lee Glover when they searched his cell at HMP Moorland, near Doncaster, in June 2024.

At the time, Glover, from Leeds, was serving a 32-month prison sentence for distributing indecent images of children.

Judge Keir Monteith KC said the content of the notes was "graphic and disgusting" and handed 36-year-old Glover a seven-month jail term.

The defendant, who had four relevant previous convictions from 33 offences between 2012 and 2023, pleaded guilty on Thursday morning ahead of the start of his trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Prosecutor Joe Culley said Glover's offending history indicated "an extreme sexual interest in children".

Among the notes found under his bed was a letter asking "an apparent friend" for access to his niece, as well as sheets of paper describing sexual activity with two girls, Judge Monteith said.

The court heard there was no evidence of any sexual activity taking place, or the notes being distributed.

'Dark web'

Glover told police the notes referred to "fantasies and thoughts he was having in his head", and that he felt writing them down "was a way of getting them out of his head", Mr Culley told the court.

He accepted the notes "came across as a manual, guide or advice", which was "similar to what he had read on the dark web".

"This is effectively a paedophile manual that wouldn't have existed but for his authoring," said Mr Culley.

Mitigating, Rebecca Tanner said the prison had agreed to allow Glover to write down his thoughts on paper and hand them over to a professional as part of attempts to manage his behaviour.

However, Judge Monteith said Glover had failed to mention this when he admitted making the notes during a police interview.

He told the defendant: "You knew and you now know that you shouldn't have had those notes in the setting that you were existing in."

Glover was given a 10% reduction on his sentence due to his guilty plea. He received a further reduction after the court heard he had made "considerable progress" since his last offence.

The defendant had been due to be released from prison on 18 June. He was told he would serve at least 50% of his sentence, meaning he could be released within weeks.

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