A depraved paedophile who told an undercover police officer his name was 'Paedo Daddy' while he believed he was chatting to a 12-year-old girl online has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. Philip Norris, 48, shared vile messages with the officer over months and said he would travel more than 200 miles to meet up. However, he was unaware that he was talking to a decoy account on internet chatrooms as part of a sting operation.
As a result of his actions, Norris was banned from having contact with children. Yet he continued to stay at his partner's home with her young daughter and even carried out school pick-ups and drop-offs at times. The case was heard at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday afternoon.
Details of the Offences
Norris, from Waterloo, engaged in a series of sexualised conversations with an undercover officer posing as a 12-year-old girl on the social media sites Chatiw and Teleguard between July and October 2024, using the screenname 'Paedo Daddy'. Prosecutor Iain Criddle stated: 'The defendant, perhaps foolishly, used the name 'Paedo Daddy', which, frankly, was always going to alert the authorities to his activities.'
Norris told the officer he was 'getting horny talking to her' and asked her to perform oral sex and if she would 'want to f***'. He then sent an explicit picture and video, requesting that she send him explicit images back. After suggesting meeting up and being told the decoy schoolgirl lived in Slough, he said 'it would be worth travelling that distance to meet someone like her'. He also told her to keep their chats 'secret from her mum'.
Arrest and Seized Devices
Norris was arrested on October 10, 2024. Police seized two laptops and an iPhone from his home. Analysis revealed a total of 125 indecent images of children, including 44 pictures and videos in Category A, which show the most serious forms of abuse. Additionally, four computer-generated images depicting child sexual abuse and one of an adult engaging in bestiality were found.
Breach of Notification Requirements
Norris pleaded guilty to a series of charges before magistrates and was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register on an interim basis ahead of sentencing. However, he failed to notify officers of his address and stayed at his girlfriend's house on at least seven occasions between March 5 and 17 this year while her young daughter was present. This included collecting the girl from school and dropping her off. Prosecutor Criddle added: 'His then partner had no idea that he had this obligation. As soon as she found out, she immediately finished the relationship.'
Defence Mitigation
Norris has no previous convictions. John Dove, defending, said: 'Mr Norris fully accepts responsibility for that offending and appreciates the gravity of what he has done. In the time period leading up to this offending, Mr Norris was going through a number of very difficult personal issues. Ultimately, this resulted in a divorce from his wife and him being left with substantial marital debt.'
Dove continued: 'Mr Norris believes that, at that time, he was depressed and had nowhere to turn. As a result, he turned to the internet and sought solace on there. He says he had a difficult time maintaining relationships with individuals of his own age. This led to him going to chatrooms. Ultimately, it culminated in the offending of which you have heard today.'
He added: 'In effect, what he has told me in instructions is that he has a limited recollection of that time. Mr Norris fully accepts that he has breached the notification requirements. In effect, he has buried his head in the sand. He indicates that the reason he went to live there for a period of time is that she was struggling to come to terms with things.'
Dove noted that Norris is a hard-working individual who has worked as a business intelligence analyst or data analyst since his 20s. He has been in his most recent employment for six years. Prior to this, Norris described a difficult upbringing with a stepfather who abused his mother. He is close with his mother, who has been ill with cancer and a hip replacement. Norris has been on remand for seven weeks and has struggled in custody. He has enrolled on a personal and social development course and is deeply ashamed of his actions.
Sentencing
Norris admitted attempted sexual communications with a child, attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity, possession of indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of children, possession of an extreme pornographic image, and two counts of failing to comply with notification requirements. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Sentencing, Judge Stuart Driver KC said: 'You were left alone, at times, with a [young] girl. You slept in the home of her and her mother. You took her to and from school. It is clearly a very risky situation to be done by a man like you, who gave yourself the internet nickname 'Paedo Daddy', who downloaded and no doubt enjoyed films of children being raped and communicated sexually with someone who you believed to be a 12-year-old child. There was a risk of very serious harm.'
He continued: 'In mitigation, you are of previous good character. References speak highly of you. You have got a good employment record and are making progress in custody. In his careful submissions, your barrister asks me to suspend the sentence. I find that you are a danger to children. The pre-sentence report says that you present a high risk of serious harm to them. Two of the offences for which you are to be sentenced demonstrate a history of non-compliance with court orders. The combination of three types of offending here means that appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.'
Norris, who was seen with his head bowed and wiping away tears with a tissue at times during the hearing, was also handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He will be required to notify as a sex offender for life.
