Stalker jailed for planting PC evidence

A man has been jailed for four years for making indecent images of children

In a highly unusual case, a Finnish man has been jailed for trying to break up a marriage by sneaking into the couple's home and planting false evidence on the husband's computer.

Ilkka Karttunen was jailed for over four years by Basildon Crown Court after being found guilty of harassment, perverting the course of justice and making indecent images of children.

The court heard that he had become obsessed with a co-worker and sought to end her marriage by breaking into their house, planting child pornography on the husband's hard drive, and then informing the police.

"This had a devastating effect on the family as he was given no access to his young children or his home while he was under investigation, and he had to live with the trauma of being accused of crimes against young children, of which he is wholly innocent," Suzanne Stringer said for the prosecution, according to The Times.

Karttunen broke into the family's home while they were asleep, used the husband's computer to download the images, then stole the hard drive and mailed it to police with the address.

When police raided Karttunen's home they found a complete copy of the family's computer files stored in his garden shed, as well as photos of his target's home, including the husband's work calendar and their children's room.

"He had been inside the home of his colleague at night whilst the family were upstairs asleep and had downloaded the contents of their home computer. In doing this Karttunnen had hoped to have an innocent man arrested and imprisoned so he could take his place in the family," Stringer said.

"The lengths this man went to in order to pursue a fantasy were incredible. We only hope the family can now move forward positively with their lives."