Possession of indecent images of children.

James Sharrock, 55, was sentenced to two years in prison for possession and distribution of indecent images of children.

Winchester Crown Court heard that Surrey Police, the Met Police and Hampshire Constabulary had been investigating Sharrock when officers attended his address in Spicers Court on July 24, 2022.

Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, stated that 4,333 images were found on several of his devices, with 2,069 classified as category A, considered the most severe type of indecent images.

PC Kristin McMahon, the officer in the case, described these images as "some of the worst images of child abuse I've seen," adding that they were "sadistic" and depicted "children tied up, degraded and suffering physical as well as sexual abuse."

Some of the images also showed children who were drugged, with the ages of those in the videos and pictures ranging from two months to 12 years old.

Sharrock previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, three counts of distributing indecent images of children, possessing nine prohibited images of children and 638 extreme pornographic images.

In addition to his prison sentence, Sharrock must be on the sex offender's register for 10 years.