Over the past week, this publication has carried the result of a sickening court case involving a father from Milford Haven, living in Llangrannog, who admitted making almost 40,000 indecent images of children. Jason Church, 40, was also found to be in possession of a so-called “paedophile manual” - a virtual step-by-step guide in how to abuse children.

Church admitted all of the offences when he appeared before magistrates in Haverfordwest in October, and he was sentenced to 22 months behind bars when he appeared before Swansea Crown Court. He will also be registered on the sex offenders’ registry for a decade.

Church was sentenced to 16 months for possession of the indecent images and six months for possession of the manual, with the sentences to run consecutively.

Church will be eligible for release after serving just half of his sentence. This publication, however, feels that it has a duty to comment on this case.

Firstly, we must commend police officers for their work in making the arrest initially in August, 2023 following intelligence that depraved images of children were being downloaded by a device linked to property there. They also carried out a welfare check on Church’s wide, who was - like the rest of every right-minded person - in shock at what had occurred.

We admire their professionalism in dealing with this nonce.

But this publication must question the duration of the custodial sentence handed to Church - particularly that he will be out after less than a year behind bars.

Sentencing Church, Judge Huw Rees said he was of the view that the defendant posed “a risk and a danger to children”, adding that viewing the images on Church’s phone would be a “harrowing experience for right-thinking people”.

This publication, however, cannot balance that those against the comparative leniency. It would seem as it if, in this case, the punishment does not fit the crime.

“Right-thinking people” will find it hard to accept that, in this instance, given the sheer volume of sick images, and the fact that Church has a manual titled “How to Practice Child Love”, that justice has been done.