Melbourne man John Richard Strachan to be deported to UK after child porn found on his computer

An elderly Melbourne man has appealed a decision to cancel his visa and send him back to the UK after child porn was found on his laptop. But a tribunal had real issues with his attitude towards the offending.

John Richard Strachan, 79, must return to the UK after his visa to stay in Australia was cancelled following his conviction for possessing child porn.

An elderly Melbourne man convicted of possessing child porn that depicted minors as young as six engaged in sexual acts will be shipped back to the UK.

John Richard Strachan, 79, who has lived in Australia since he was 23, initially appealed the decision by the Department of Home Affairs to cancel his visa after he pleaded guilty to possessing child porn and was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order by a magistrate in January 2018.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal last month upheld the department’s decision to deport Strachan, with senior member Donald Morris noting Strachan’s “blasé” attitude towards his offending was of “central concern”.

“The number of child abuse images the applicant downloaded was not a large number, (but) the images were of a highly offensive nature and several of them involved child exploitation at the very worst end of the scale,” Mr Morris said.

“(His) somewhat blasé attitude to the offence is of central concern … it contributes to my finding that, given the opportunity, he may well reoffend,” Mr Morris said.

A computer shop technician discovered the “disgusting” images of abused children after Strachan took his laptop in for repairs, the tribunal heard.

Strachan initially tried to tell police during his interview that his computer was “hacked”, but later confessed to searching for the images out of “boredom”.

Mr Morris said Strachan told police he didn’t believe searching for the images was wrong because it was done in the privacy of his own home.

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When cross-examined before the tribunal Strachan maintained he didn’t realise at the time what he was doing was wrong.

And while Strachan said he now understood viewing and possessing child exploitation material was a “very serious offence”, Mr Morris said he wasn’t convinced Strachan no longer posed a risk to the community.

Strachan’s visa was cancelled and he will be deported back to the UK