Calderstones nurse hands himself in after eight years on run

Anthony Paul Johnson, who worked at Calderstones Hospital in Whalley, was arrested on Monday at Manchester Airport.

Blackburn magistrates were told he had been living in Spain where he had been since fleeing in 2003.

Johnson, 51, who said he had no UK address, was remanded in custody for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said Johnson was described by colleagues at Calderstones as a ‘lewd’ character.

In April 2003 he approached a colleague and gave him a DVD, saying there was something on he might find interesting.

“The colleague was expecting adult pornography but when he looked at it at home found it contained images of girls aged about nine or 10,” said Miss Allan. “He was appalled, showed it to another colleague and they decided to involve the police.”

Gareth Price, defending, said Johnson had worked as a mental health nurse for 12 years and there had never been any complaint about his behaviour.

He had worked at Calderstones for six weeks and claimed it was commonplace for staff members to exchange pornographic material between themselves.

“He says that was the environment he went into,” said Mr Price.

He said Johnson recalled having the disc which contained all kinds of files, including road maps and some adult porn.

“He says he had only viewed the images of children as thumbnails,” said Mr Price. “He was not responsible for creating any of them.”

Johnson had pleaded guilty in 2003 to seven charges of possessing indecent images and seven charges of distributing them.

Mr Price said Johnson had been attacked , his house vandalised and his car damaged as a result of the offences.

“He was being tagged as a paedophile and it was causing him a great deal of stress and anxiety,” said Mr Price. “He fled to Spain in a panic and has been there ever since. He has not been hiding there, he has worked, rented accommodation and been paying the equivalent of national insurance.”