Stiff sentence for man who sent penis photos

2:09pm Monday 8th October 2007

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A man who claims he accidentally sent pictures of his erect penis to female business contacts including his recruitment consultant and employer has been sentenced to six months imprisonment.

Joseph Reed-Mooney, 27, of no fixed address, sent two of the messages from an unrecognised sim card on January 16 along with the message "I love you Kate". Neither woman was called Kate and Reed-Mooney claimed they were intended for his girlfriend.

He sent a third image from his own phone on January 17 to his employer, along with the message, "I love you Kate, why didn't you reply - send me a picture of you". The number was recognised by a woman who had employed Reed-Mooney as a delivery driver.

Although he sent a message apologising, she called police and he was arrested.

Reed-Mooney, a convicted burglar who is currently at Highpoint prison in Suffolk, originally pleaded not guilty to the offence but changed his plea at Kingston Magistrates Court heard last Thursday (October 4) after the prosecution submitted last-minute evidence from a phone expert.

Mr Painter, defending, said: "This is someone who has pleaded guilty, albeit on the day of trial which has spared the public purse from pursuing this matter any further.

"There are no offences like this on his record and I would urge the court to consider this an offence out of character."

Reed-Mooney was sentenced to six months imprisonment for sending an indecent electronic communication but he is already in jail and it will run concurrently with his burglary sentence. Magistrate Mrs Jewell said: "This was an extremely unpleasant set of offences which caused upset and embarrassment to the women who were victims of it and that cannot be taken lightly by this court."

Magistrates also ordered confiscation of the two mobile phones used to send the images.