Shell exec caught watching child pornography

A senior executive at oil firm Shell was caught downloading indecent images of children at home when he accidentally printed off some pages on his work printer, a court has heard.

Anthony Sturman, 59, sent six pages containing indecent material to a printer at the Waterloo headquarters of Shell UK, where he had worked for 15 years, The Daily Mail reports.

His PC was linked to his work system, so the images were produced at his office.

Seven of the images printed were categorised at level four, the second highest level of abuse.

A horrified colleague discovered the images when she unclogged a jammed printer on the 18th floor at the Shell Centre in Waterloo.

There were 42 indecent images across six pieces of paper, all in thumbnail size, Inner London Crown Court heard.

Darren Ponds, prosecuting, said Ruth Elliott, a colleague at Shell, had discovered the images.

“A jam had occurred and when that jam was fixed the backed up items began to print. A number of pages of indecent images of children were printed.”

Examination of the data from the printer revealed the items had come from Sturman's computer and he was arrested two days later.

Yogain Chandarana, defending, said Sturman had destroyed the life he had built for himself.

“He has actively sought treatment for himself since his arrest 18 months ago,' he said.

“He has laid out his soul in front of probation officers.”

“Clearly though, he did not intend to produce these images on a work printer.

“He has caused a complete destruction of the life he had built...because of his behaviour.”