Comedian Tom Binns was charged with five counts of making and one count of possessing indecent images of children in November 2022. He recently confessed to the crime but claimed he was under the influence of prescription drugs during his controversial actions.
According to BBC Radio Sheffield, Binns was caught after he asked a family friend to sell three devices containing inappropriate material on eBay. The comedian spoke to Chortle and admitted that he “downloaded and deleted” a large amount of adult content nearly two years ago.
He said that it took place while he was suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder induced by an overdose of prescription drugs for ADHD known as Amfexa:
“Over two years ago, while under the influence of an overdose of prescription drugs for ADHD, which induced obsessive compulsive disorder, I downloaded and deleted a very large amount of adult p*rnography over a short period of time.”
Binns added that the download of inappropriate content involving children was accidental and took place while he downloaded the adult content. He also noted that he passed a polygraph test showing he had no malicious intent toward children:
“Within those downloads it appears there was some child p*rnography that I had not sought out nor wanted. I have no s*xual interest in children. I have taken and passed a polygraph stating I have no s*xual interest in children.”
However, Tom Binns said that he caused hurt to his family and he is taking complete responsibility for his actions:
“I am bitterly upset at the hurt this has caused my family for which I take full responsibility. I will take my punishment for this and hope that my family are not further harmed by my actions.”
While critics accused Binns of using ADHD and prescription drugs as an excuse for his offensive behavior, he shared a toxicology report on Twitter showing that he consumed six times the prescribed amount of Amfexa at the time.
Tom Binns shares further details of his charges
In November 2022, Tom Binns appeared in court and confessed to making and possessing indecent images of children. However, he said that his controversial actions were accidental and happened under the influence of an overdose of prescription drugs for ADHD.
More recently, the comedian took to Twitter to discuss the five counts of making indecent child images. In a series of now-deleted tweets, Binns explained that “making” of inappropriate child imagery was a “broad interpretation” used by the court.
He said it could include “making indecent images, opening an email attachment, and downloading an indecent image.” The information was reportedly verified by the Metropolitan Police website.
Tom Binns said that some of the images he downloaded in the past synced with his Google account. Following the suspension of the account, he contacted Google and gave the company “permission for a human to investigate.”
The comedian claimed that Google’s investigation led to the charges against him.He also clarified that the one count of possession charge referred to images that were found in his Google account when it was suspended:
“Everything else was downloaded and deleted.”
The comic, best known for his character of hospital radio DJ Ivan Brackenbury, was scheduled to perform at a gig at the Comedy Lounge in Hull on January 22. However, the show was canceled in the wake of the charges against Binns.
The Comedy Lounge Hull took to social media to make the announcement and wrote:
“Unfortunately we have had to cancel this event, anyone who has purchased tickets will have received an email regarding this. Thank you.”
Tom Binns is scheduled to appear in court for his sentencing hearing on January 23, 2023.