A paedophile said he would look at pictures of children if he was ‘bored in lockdown’ and ‘while he was bored at work’.

Adnan Khalid, 29, has been spared jail after admitting to police that he had a sordid interest in children.

Khalid was found with 2,169 images of children across a mobile phone, laptop and memory stick which police seized.

Prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, Stephen Parker said that police raided Khalid’s home on Neath Close, Blackburn, in February 2021, acting on information received by social media.

Khalid asked police if it was about the ‘pornography’ he possessed – this being the images of the children.

He said to police that he had an interest in people aged 23 to 24 years old and said that adults abusing children was ‘morally wrong’ – despite having these kinds of images saved.

He provided the police with his passwords to access all devices.

He also admitted that he looked at the images while he was ‘bored during lockdown and at work’.

Of the images, 42 were category A – the most extreme types, with 17 videos.

A further 70 were category B and 2057 were category C.

The images were of children between the ages of about four and 12.

The prosecution believe that Khalid was viewing the images for about a year. 

Mitigating, Tom Worsfold said that Khalid pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and that he was fully cooperative with police, admitting his offending from the very start.

Mr Worsfold said: “Khalid was in my submission, open with the police and probation in terms of how he came to view the images.

“He admitted the offences from the moment of the search.

“In an interview, he admitted he gained sexual gratification with these images.”

Judge Heather Lloyd handed Khalid a 16-month sentence, suspended for 24 months.

Judge Lloyd said: “Every child depicted on those images which you sought out is a victim of pare and other sexual exploitation.

“You say that you only get sexual pleasure from the category C images – I don’t believe you.

“There is no reason to seek out so many category A and B images.”

Khalid must also abide by a sexual harm prevention order and sexual harm notification requirement for 10 years.