Children's football coach in Leeds shared sick child-abuse images over Snapchat

Paedophile Asher Bailey, who previously trained youngsters in the Chapeltown area, was today handed a suspended sentence at Leeds Crown Court. It was initially feared that the 24-year-old shared thousands of images, but it was eventually ascertained that it was a total of 136 he had sent to other like-minded perverts.

He was downloading and sharing the files for more than six years up until he was caught in 2022. There was no suggestion any of the children he worked with as a football coach were abused.

Prosecutor Mark Savage told Leeds Crown Court today that intelligence was received by West Yorkshire Police that two illegal images had been shared over Snapchat, which was traced to Bailey’s address at Sholebroke View, Potternewton in January 2022.

He attended a voluntary interview with police where he refused to answer questions. He admitted three counts of possessing indecent photos and one of distributing images. He was remanded into custody in March of this year when it was requested the police clarify how many images or videos he had shared.

It was found that he had shared 103 Category A images – the most serious kind – along with 27 Category B and six Category C.

Mitigating, Sean Smith said Bailey had already served the equivalent to a 12-month sentence, given that he would ordinarily be released at the half-way stage.

Mr Smith added: “There’s been a significant amount of punishment already, and in these circumstances, it could be dealt with by way of a suspended sentence.”

Judge Christopher Batty gave him a 24-month jail sentence, suspended for for 24 months.

He told him: “I do not want anyone to say the courts have gone soft, what you did was unacceptable. You have done as much as can to put right the wrongs that were involved in. You are, putting is bluntly, asking for help. Had you not been on remand it would have been difficult to impose the sentence I have imposed.”

He was also ordered to enrol on a sex offender programme, given rehabilitation days, put on the sex offender register for 10 years and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to curb his internet use.