A man from Eastleigh sourced indecent images and videos of children from an internet chat room, a court heard.

Eastleigh Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Abuse Images

Zach Mockford, a 24-year-old resident of Cranbury Road, Eastleigh, was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence for possessing indecent images and videos of children.

Mockford admitted to accessing a registration-free chat site to solicit images, some depicting children as young as four being sexually abused. During a police search of his laptop, authorities discovered over 200 videos and hundreds of illegal images, including more than 50 videos depicting bestiality.

Prosecutor Simon Wiltshire informed Southampton Crown Court that almost half of the 222 videos found on Mockford's laptop were categorized as the most severe, category-A images. Additionally, police found over 100 still indecent images and 103 images of bestiality, both moving and still.

Mockford pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images and one count of making extreme images related to the bestiality content. Judge Gary Burrell, in handing down the sentence, emphasized the gravity of the crimes:

"You now know that these are real children being abused in real life. Some of the videos show children as young as four being abused. They must have been suffering both physically and mentally."

Mockford's nine-month sentence was suspended for two years. He was also subjected to a five-year sexual harm prevention order and will be required to register as a sex offender for the next ten years.