3:43pm Thursday 3rd November 2005
By Tracey Treanor
A SOUTH Harrow man pleaded guilty at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court on Monday to making and keeping over 7,000 indecent images of children at his home in South Harrow.
Married David Daines, 44, had material collected that included a video tape of his associate, Paul Woodruff, abusing another nine-year old boy for Daines' gratification.
Detectives from the Met's Child Abuse Investigation team began gathering evidence against Daines when they discovered his links to Woodruff. Woodruff, from Middlesborough, was jailed for 11 years at Teeside Crown Court in April 2003 for indecently assaulting children.
Woodruff was arrested and his home searched. A clear link to Daines was established when correspondence was found between the two.
The Scout Association had dismissed Daines as a scout master in 1995 following the discovery of his previous convictions. However he then assisted Woodruff who, at the time of his arrest, was a scout leader with the Baden Powell Scout Movement in Middlesbrough. (The Baden Powell Scout Association is a small organisation not associated with the natiotional the or international scout movement).
The Met Police's Child Abuse Investigation team raided Daines' home and his workplace in Wembley. At his home, they found large amounts of property, including over 20 computers, and at his workplace, computer equipment and magazines were seized. But Daines, who at the time was employed as an IT manager, had been alerted to impending police action by Woodruff's arrest and conceaedl his tracks using a special computer programme.
Although the Child Abuse Investigation team eventually retrieved thousands of indecent images, Daines had destroyed a great many and other incriminating evidence. This set the investigation back when he was first arrested on December 5, 2001.
When Daines' home was searched again in December 2003, he was caught by surprise. Homemade video cassettes were recovered together with indecent images of children. These images were found in a number of different locations- on diskettes in the attic and on a computer hard drive.
Investigating officer DI Ian Hughes of the Met's Major Investigation Child Abuse Team said: "We have conducted a detailed and painstaking investigation to bring Daines to justice. Both men abused their positions within the scouting movement and betrayed parents who had entrusted the care of their children to them. We believe Daines who is a dangerous man in relation to children may have assaulted children and are appealing for anyone who may have information to speak to us in confidence.If you have any information regarding this case, please contact us on 020 7230 5928"
Daines is in custody awaiting to be sentenced on November 28.
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