Paedophile collected nearly 43,000 indecent images

Liam Jackson was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court

A paedophile, whose collection of nearly 43,000 child sex images was described by the judge as the largest he had ever seen, has been given a suspended sentence.

The children who featured in Liam Jackson's collection had an average age of five or six years, with the youngest just one year old, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Recorder Graham Robinson said Jackson's collection, of both photos and videos, encouraged "evil-doers" to create such images, and left the children depicted "irreparably damaged" for a long time.

Jackson, 29, from Gateshead, was jailed for 10 months - suspended for two years - after admitting three counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Police seized several devices from Jackson's home during a raid on 12 December 2022, prosecutor Nicoleta Alistari said.

Over a number of years, he had amassed 190 images in the most serious category (category A), 116 in the second tier (category B), and 42,617 in the third tier (category C), the court heard.

Recorder Robinson said category C, was "still serious".

Ms Alistari said some of the very young children depicted showed "discernible pain and distress" in the images.

In mitigation, the court heard Jackson, a graphic designer, was socially isolated and had admitted being sexual attracted to children.

'Irreparable damage'

The judge said the quantity of images in Jackson's possession was the "largest number" he had ever seen.

He said offenders such as Jackson would often claim their crimes were "victimless" because they were not directly abusing the children, but that was "muddled thinking" on two counts.

Firstly, the judge said, downloading such material "encourages the evil makers of these images to produce more", which led to more children being "irreparably damaged" by their "depraved" abuse.

Secondly, Recorder Robinson said, the abuse was "not all over" - or finite - for the children featured in the images because, even as grown-ups, they would be aware the "depravity" to which they were subjected was still circulating online,

The court heard there was a "realistic prospect of rehabilitation" for Jackson, who would work with the probation service and complete courses designed to address his "problem".

He must sign the sex offender register, and comply with a sexual harm prevention order restricting and monitoring his use of internet-enabled devices for 10 years.