The Appeals Court has upheld prison sentences imposed on a man convicted of possessing and acquiring hundreds of child pornography files, rejecting an appeal by the Attorney General, Geroge Savvides, seeking tougher penalties.

In its decision issued on Saturday, the unanimous ruling dismissed the appeal against the sentences imposed by the Nicosia district court, finding that the punishments fell within permissible limits and did not require intervention.

For acquiring child pornography between November 21, 2016, and July 12, 2017, involving 792 files found on his laptop, the defendant was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

He was also sentenced to 14 months for possessing three child pornography files on his laptop in February 2021.

A further sentence of 30 months was imposed for acquiring 186 files depicting children under the age of 13.

The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, as the court also imposed supervision and exclusion orders preventing the respondent from entering places frequented by children for three years following his release.

Savvides’ appeal argued that the sentences were “manifestly insufficient”, citing the seriousness of the offences, the available penalties under the law, previous case law and the need for deterrence.

The law provides for a maximum sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment for offences involving the first and second categories of material, while offences involving the third category can carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

In its decision, the court rejected the arguments, stating that “the sentence imposed on the appellant in question may fall within the permissible limits so as not to be manifestly insufficient”.