News In Focus
27 July 2010
Sex predator fails to overturn ban on watching porn
A dangerous sex offender yesterday lost his court attempt to have overturned a ban by his supervising social worker on him viewing pornography.
Martin Miller, who poses a high risk to women and children, claimed it was a breach of his human rights for his social worker to impose the requirement as a condition of his supervised release order.
Miller (26) was given an 18 month sentence last year for stalking a 12-year-old girl, leaving her traumatised, immediately following his release from an earlier sentence. Social workers who had supported him for a decade concluded that nothing could be done to reduce the danger he presented to the public, and imposed the ban on viewing pornography and using a computer. Miller, who signed an agreement to abide by the condition, now denies breaching it.
At Perth Sheriff Court Miller's counsel Sean Templeton argued that the supervising officer had overstepped their authority and taken on a role that was for the court in setting sentence.
Sheriff Michael Fletcher said it was his view that the supervising officer was "entitled to impose requirements as he may reasonably specify for the purposes set out and he does not require to apply to the court to vary the order".
A further hearing will be held into Miller's contention that the condition was not reasonable.