CLARIFICATION: This report was edited to change the original headline which said ‘Man filmed himself having sex with dog’ to ‘Man filmed himself in sex act with dog’. Neil Gareth Bird did not have sex with a dog; he filmed himself in a sexual act with a canine. 

 

A MAN who filmed himself in a sexual act with a dog has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Andrew Finlay, prosecuting, said Neil Gareth Bird, 45, had sent the film to someone he knew via WhatsApp.

He had also filmed himself having sex with a teenager, searched online for extreme pornography and downloaded indecent images of children, York Crown Court heard.

Defence barrister Katherine Robinson said of the dog video found on Bird's phone: "Whilst the defendant accepts he made that video and it is sexual in nature, his intention was to send it in the course of an argument.

"It wasn't for sexual gratification of him or anyone else."

Earlier this month she told the court the recipient had called Bird a "dog".

Bird, of Thoresby Road, Acomb, pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing extreme pornography and four of having indecent images of children .

There were a total of 38 extreme images and five indecent images featuring children aged seven to 10, plus the video of the teenager.

Bird was given a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years on condition he does 20 days' rehabilitative activities.

He will be on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Deputy circuit judge Tim Clayson declined a prosecution application for Bird to be subject to a sexual harm prevention order enabling police to monitor his use of the internet.

He said he didn't think it would be appropriate and the rehabilitative activities would help stop Bird commit more sexual offences.

Mr Finlay said the teenager and Bird had met on an internet dating website and the boy had lied about his age.

He had initially claimed he was 18 when he was younger. He had later given his true age. The pair had met physically and had had consensual sex.

Police found a film of the two of them engaged in sex when they searched Bird's tablet and mobile phone.

They also found the indecent images.

Ms Robinson said it was a "highly unusual case".

The number of indecent images of children was very small as were the amount of extreme pornography, she said, and the period when Bird had been searching online for illegal images had been short.

Although the consensual sex between Bird and the teenager was legal because of the teenager's age, it was illegal to film it because the teenager had been under 18.

Ms Robinson said the case had cost Bird his security clearance and it was very unlikely he would be able to work in the same area in future.

But he had kept his job because his employer had been able to find him alternative work.

She said the court case had been a "wake up call" for him.