A CONVICTED sex offender was caught with thousands of indecent images of children after police heard his hidden mobile phone ringing.
David Graham was being visited by an officer doing a routine check on his devices when he heard the noise.

Graham tried to run out of the house with the phone but was stopped.
When the phone, and another phone, discovered hidden under a rug, were examined a total of more than 6,000 indecent images of children were found.

At Bolton Crown Court Graham, aged 58, of Etherstone Street, Leigh, was jailed for 30 months after admitting breaching a sexual harm prevention order, downloading indecent images of children and possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a horse.

Peter Lavery, prosecuting, told the court how Graham had previously been convicted of making and possessing indecent photographs of children in 2007, 2010 and 2016, placed on the sex offenders’ register and make subject to a sexual harm prevention order in 2013, which bans him from using devices capable of storing digital images unless he makes them available to the authorities for inspection.

On October 7 last year police visited his home for a routine check.
“The defendant handed over a Motorola mobile phone for police to check but, whilst at the address, another device began to sound,” said Mr Lavery.

“That was hidden under a desk located in the living room. The defendant, attempting to evade the responsibility for it, took the device and quickly walked out of the address.

“He was detained and arrested and the defendant indicated there was a further device hidden under a rug beneath a sheet plywood in front of the fireplace.”

The devices and five memory cards discovered, contained 1,487 of the most serious category A images of children as young as 12 months old, 821 B images and 3,701 in  category C. Hundreds of the images were videos.

An examination of one of the phones showed it contained a app which Graham had used to send messages to others who had images of children as their display picture. But Graham denied he was targetting children.

Mark Shanks, defending, said Graham had led a decent hardworking life until 13 years ago when he was convicted of indecently assaulting a girl.

“All came a cropper in 2007. His marriage ended, his life became somewhat more difficult and he is not in contact with his two adult children and, quite frankly, he became extremely lonely,” said Mr Shanks.

But he added that Graham has a new partner, who is aware of his past, and is looking towards the future.

Recorder Michael Hayton QC sentenced Graham to 30 months in prison and ordered that he remain subject to a sexual harm prevention order for a further 10 years.

He told the defendant: “There are a very large number of images and videos you were in possession of. They include image at the most extreme levels and they are grotesque in nature and unpleasant to look at. These are bad offences in flagrant disregard of existing orders.”