Pressure to cut the number of prisoners on remand has led to “dangerous and prolific offenders” being granted bail, the country’s most senior police officer said after a paedophile was allowed to return to his flat that overlooked a children’s playground.
Zafer Dogan was jailed on Thursday for two years and four months after he was convicted of taking thousands of pictures of women and girls before using AI technology to turn them into nude images for his sexual gratification.
But despite protests from the police and prosecutors, he was bailed to his flat in Enfield, north London, forcing one family who had fallen victim to his crimes to move into temporary accommodation.
After the ۳۲-year-old’s sentencing at Wood Green crown court, Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley took the unusual step of publicly criticising the justice system.
He said it was leaving his officers feeling “hamstrung” by making “unfathomable decisions” to grant the most prolific offenders bail.
Speaking outside the court after he attended the sentencing, he said: “The children should be put first, not the paedophile.
“The pressure to reduce the remand population has contributed to more dangerous and prolific offenders being granted bail routinely despite strong submissions from the police and CPS.
“Victims are left fearful, and communities are left feeling less safe, and confidence in the justice system is undermined.”
Earlier, the court had heard how Dogan, who worked as a mechanic, took photos of adults and children going about their “daily business” without their knowledge before using AI software to digitally alter them into sexually explicit images.
He had previously pleaded guilty to several image offences, including making indecent images of children, having been arrested on ۱۶ July on suspicion of offences involving indecent images of children.
Prosecutor Sarah Gabay said investigators discovered “thousands of images of women and children which seem to have been taken without their consent or their knowledge”.
She said they were “going about their daily business” in the photographs, which included pictures of children on climbing frames.
According to the police, Dogan had taken more than ۵,۰۰۰ images, many of which were from his bedroom window which overlooked a playground.
The court was told photos of ۳۳ adult women and two children, aged seven and ۱۳, were “digitally altered” using AI software to create sexualised content.
Dogan was arrested again on ۴ August and the following day he was charged and remanded by police. The defendant appeared at Highbury Corner magistrates court on ۶ August and accepted all the charges against him. According to the prosecutor, Dogan had “been on conditional bail throughout these proceedings”.
Dogan gave no-comment interviews after both arrests, the court heard.
The court heard victim impact statements from the mothers of Dogan’s two child victims, who have been kept anonymous for legal reasons.
The mother of the ۱۳-year-old victim described feeling as if she had been “punched in the gut” when police officers told her what had happened. She added: “I’m really worried that my daughter’s photos are online and other paedophiles have them.”
The mother of the seven-year-old victim described feeling “helpless”, adding: “Our lives will never be the same again and I can’t do anything about it all because one man exploited my child.”
Joseph Carr, mitigating, said the defendant “recognises the profound seriousness” of his offending. He said Dogan separated from his long-term partner in ۲۰۲۵ and subsequently “spiralled into depression”.
The lawyer said he “fell down the rabbit hole and was unable to find his way out”, but added there is no excuse for his actions.
The judge described Dogan as a “Jekyll and Hyde” character during the hearing, having read several character references, which, Carr said, “speak to positive character”.
Dogan pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of a child, which included ۹۰۰ category C images, ۲۹۴ category B images and ۶۵۳ category A images – which are the most severe.
He also admitted possessing extreme pornography, possessing a prohibited image of a child, creating purported intimate images of an adult, obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty and a further two counts of making indecent photographs of a child.
Rowley also criticised the AI companies for being “grossly irresponsible” in the way they developed technology.
He said: “This is another example of how some grossly irresponsible technology and AI companies must do more to prevent their platforms and tools from being used to facilitate sexual offending and harm.
“Innovation cannot come at the expense of public safety, and industry has a clear responsibility to help prevent these technologies being exploited by predators.
“Victims, in this case extremely young children and their families, deserve better from both the tech companies and the criminal justice system.”
Sentencing , Judge Jacobs said: “The offences are so serious that in my judgment only a custodial sentence is justified.”
He commended the “bravery” of the mothers who gave victim impact statements, adding: “As they rightly say, whatever sentence I impose, it will not undo what you did. No sentence can give those families back what you stole from them through your depraved actions.”
He said all of Dogan’s offending was “completely sexually motivated”.
The Met police said that alongside the CPS, it had opposed Dogan’s bail on three occasions but their attempts were unsuccessful and the offender was allowed to return to his flat.
