NHS doctor, 35, arrested after his wife found child porn stash on his laptop while watching Game of Thrones then handed computer to police avoids jail
- Dr Christopher Ball-Nossa had more than 1,500 child abuse images on his laptop
- His wife went to police after noticing a file ‘child porn 3-16’ on the device
- The trainee GP received a two-year community order at Warwick Crown Court
- Ball-Nossa now faces being struck off by the General Medical Council
Dr Christopher Ball-Nossa, pictured outside Warwick Crown Court on Friday, admitted six charges in relation to indecent child abuse images on his computer
The wife of an NHS hospital doctor handed over his laptop to police after discovering child abuse images on the machine while trying to watch an episode of Game of Thrones.
Police arrested Dr Christopher Ball-Nossa after his wife saw a file name called ‘child porn 3-16’ on the device.
Officers found more than 1,500 indecent images – including 22 movies and 196 photographs of the most serious, Category A type.
Ball-Nossa, 35, was working at University Hospital Coventry at the time of his arrest. He pleaded guilty to six charges in relation to the indecent child abuse images.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Ball-Nossa was handed a two-year community order and told to participate in a sex offender programme.
At Warwick Crown Court, Judge Peter Cook also ordered Ball-Nossa to sign the sex offender register for ten years.
According to the General Medical Council, Ball-Nossa’s licence to practice medicine has been provisionally suspended.
Anthony Cartin, prosecuting, told Warwick Crown Court that Ball-Nossa’s wife went to police in Coventry in June after noticing the obscene images on his computer.
The court heard she had earlier found child abuse images on his computer in 2008 but accepted his accuse they and been ‘unwanted pop-ups’.
Ball-Nossa’s lawyer Richard Gibbs said that his client’s medical career and marriage are both over.
He said his client first had ‘inappropriate thoughts about children’ aged 17.
The trainee GP, pictured outside court was told his conviction had led to the end of his medical career as well as the end of his marriage. Judge Peter Cook said: ‘You have ruined your life by what you did’
Warwickshire Crown Court, pictured, heard Dr Christopher Ball-Nossa had more than 1,500 images of child abuse on his laptop computer. His wife was praised by Judge Peter Cook for handing over the device to police after spotting suspicious files on the hard drive
Sentencing Ball-Nossa, Judge Cook said: ‘The first thing I want to acknowledge is the conduct of your wife.
‘It must have put her in the most appalling predicament, but she did the most courageous thing and went to the police. She found the courage to do the right thing.’
Judge Cook said about one-seventh of the images on his computer showed ‘appalling images of the abuse of small children’.
He added: ‘The effects of your commission of these offences have been dramatic, to say the least. Your medical career is over, and your marriage is also over. You have ruined your life by what you did.’