Leamington man who downloaded thousands of indecent images of children has been told to expect a prison sentence ‘of some duration’

A Leamington man who downloaded thousands of indecent images of children, including more than 50 movie clips, has been told to expect a prison sentence ‘of some duration.’

Mark Patterson had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court last month to three charges of making a small number of indecent images of children.

But when Patterson (49) of Charles Gardner Road, Leamington, appeared via a video link from the prison where he has been on remand, the court heard more images had been found.

Christopher Hewertson, prosecuting through a video conferencing facility, explained that, as a result, Patterson now faced additional charges.

They related to a large amount of indecent material found on ‘three devices removed during a search earlier this year which revealed several thousand images of children.’

So Judge Andrew Lockhart QC formally sat as a district judge to send seven new charges, which Patterson admitted, to be dealt with at the crown court.

The charges revealed that on a computer tower and two laptops, Patterson had 45 movies and 260 still images classed as being in category A.

There were 10 movies and 226 stills in category B and a staggering 4,848 stills and three movies in category C.

In addition, Patterson pleaded guilty to possessing four images of extreme pornography showing sex acts with animals.

Resuming his role as a crown court judge, Judge Lockhart allowed Patterson’s guilty pleas to the original charges to be vacated, and ordered those counts to lie on the court file.

But he said that in view of the now very large number of images he wanted a report prepared ‘on dangerousness,’ to consider whether Patterson poses a danger to children in the future.

Remanding Patterson in custody, Judge Lockhart warned him: “You should understand you should expect a custodial sentence of some duration.”

Patterson responded: “I do.”