A CHARITY volunteer found with videos and images on his laptop of girls as young as eight being sexually abused has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Patrick French, 47, of Atlas Street, Clayton-le-Moors, was also found to have extreme images featuring animals, Burnley Crown Court was told.

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Prosecuting, Mercedeh Jabbari told the court police searched the house French shared with his brother on February 18, 2015.

French told police he was the only person in the house who was computer literate and anything found belonged to him, the court heard.

Ms Jabbari said police seized two hard drives and two laptops and found 11 videos and one image of Category A seriousness – rated the most obscene. They also found one Category B video and two images, and three extreme pornographic images.

Police also found DVDs containing pornographic videos, but the prosecution accepted they were duplicates of images found on the electronic devices.

The court heard in police interviews French, who is unemployed, denied deliberately downloading the images and knew nothing about the internet searches that were found relating to the videos and images.

Defending, Frances Wilmott said her client had taken steps to turn his life around since his arrest, including volunteering as a countryside ranger and at Sense Charity Superstore in Accrington, although he he worked away from the public. She also said her client had sought help with his alcohol issues.

Ms Wilmott said: “In comparison to many other cases the number of images is low. The probation officer is of the view Mr French has made full acceptance of his guilt rather than being forced to by the evidence.”

French pleaded guilty to making and possessing indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornographic images.

Recorder Fiona Ashworth sentenced French to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and made him subject to a ten-year order which limits his contact with anyone under the age of 16.

Recorder Ashworth said: “This is not a victimless crime. These girls are being abused and it was recorded for the perverted pleasure of people like you.”