Software on his laptop tipped off police they should visit man with deep-seated paedophilic traits

Wales Online

15-07-2025

Software on his laptop tipped off police they should visit man with deep-seated paedophilic traits
Daryl Lawton was out of prison on licence when he began making 'sinister' searches online, and monitoring software on his laptop flagged what was going on to police
Daryl Lawton
(Image: South Wales Police )
A man with "deep-seated paedophilic traits" downloaded thousands of computer-generated images and videos of children being sexually abused, a court has heard.
Daryl Lawton was out of prison on licence following a previous conviction for possession of indecent images when he accessed the pictures and carried out "sinister" internet searches.
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A judge at Swansea Crown Court said that were he to impose a term of immediate custody the defendant would only serve "a handful of months" back in prison and therefore - and "not without misgivings" - he had decided on a different course of action.
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Sarah John, prosecuting, told the court that in February last year Lawton was released on licence from prison where he was serving a sentence for possession of indecent images. As part of his release conditions the defendant had monitoring software installed on his laptop computer.
The court heard that four months later the monitoring app notified police of the presence of "concerning" imagery on the device and officers subsequently went to Lawton's home.
The defendant was noted to be "shaking and upset" and at one stage produced a Stanley-type knife from his pocket which he held out in front of him. Officers persuaded Lawton to put the weapon down.
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The defendant's laptop was seized and he was arrested and taken to Swansea Central police station. Lawton answered "no comment" to all questions asked in his subsequent interview and was released under investigation.
The court heard that an examination of the laptop found a total of 3,937 "pseudo-images" of children including computer-generated images of boys as young as five being raped by adult men. Also on the laptop police found internet searches relating to child rape and found references to phrases including "no to age of consent" and "children want sex". For all the latest court stories sign up to out crime newsletter
The prosecutor said that following the downloading and examination of the laptop 30-year-old Lawton was interviewed again, and this time admitted being responsible for the images on the device. He also said his autism "compelled" him to categorise the material he found.
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Daryl Lawton, of King's Road, SA1 docklands, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of prohibited images of children when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has two previous convictions for eight offences.
In January, 2022, the then-PhD student was made the subject of a three-year community order after police found more than 3,000 images of child sexual abuse on what was described as a "gaming tower" at his home address.
The court heard police found one million further images and though they were not examined or categorised "at least some amongst these were indecent images". There was also evidence Lawton had searched the internet for such material.
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At the 2022 sentencing hearing the defendant's barrister described his client as a "complex" individual whose anxiety, autism, and obsessive compulsive disorder led him to lead an "isolated" life.. The barrister said a pre-sentence report identified Lawton as having a "high level of sexual preoccupation".
Just weeks after being handed the community order for those matters, Lawton began downloading indecent images again, viewing "large numbers" of such images on a daily basis.
During a routine monitoring visit police examined a number of Lawton's devices and uncovered thousands of indecent and prohibited images - some involving children as young as six - along with an extreme pornographic image involving an adult male and a bull.
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In April, 2023, he was jailed for 20 months, and it was from this sentence that he was released on licence in February, 2024.
The court heard that following his most recent arrest Lawton was recalled back to prison to serve the remainder of his previously imposed 20-month sentence.
Angus McWilliams, for Lawton, said while the images found on the defendant's laptop were "heinous" they were not of real children. He said his client was voluntarily seeking help for his issues, something that was on-going.
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Judge Paul Thomas KC said it was clear from Lawton's history of offending that he was a man with "deep-seated paedophilic traits", and he described some of the defendant's internet search history as "sinister".
The judge said he was imposing a sentence that allowed work to be done to built on the progress Lawton was already making on a voluntary basis.
The judge said an important factor in deciding the sentence was the fact the defendant had been recalled back to prison following his arrest and had served the entirety of the previously imposed sentence.
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With discounts for his guilty plea, Lawton was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for two years and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course.
Judge Thomas told Lawton that the police would be keeping a close eye on him and on his electronic devices, adding that if he accessed so much as a single indecent image in the future he would be going to prison "for a very long time".