A man who shared indecent images of children on his Facebook account said he “just uploaded them like everyone else.”

Abdul Murad, 27, was arrested when police traced an IP address to his home in Bacup and the images were discovered on his devices.

When he was arrested he stated they were not of children on the street and “I just uploaded them like everyone else”.

Burnley Crown Court heard how on July 8, 2020, officers attended Murad’s home having received information that a Facebook account linked to his IP address had uploaded the images.

When the devices were examined, 121 indecent images and videos were found, dating between August 26, 2018, and July 5, 2020.

There were 30 category A images, including children as young as two and a video of a male child; 27 category B images, including children as young as five and a video of a female child; and 38 category C images.

In addition, there were nine prohibited images and 17 extreme images.

Mitigating for Murad, Osman Munir said: “These offences were committed between 2018 and 2020 and the defendant has not committed any further offences since.

“Contrary to the pre-sentence report, the defendant expresses his regret, his remorse, and is extremely sorry for his conduct. He accepts full responsibility in relation to these offences.”

Mr Munir added Murad is originally from Syria and was granted refugee status in 2019. He has a partner who lives in Lebanon and they intend to marry in the near future.

Murad has no previous convictions.

Passing sentence, Judge Sara Dodd said: “It is said you are very remorseful and sorry for what you have done.

"That is completely at odds with the pre-sentence report in which you refused to find anything wrong with your actions.

“The category A images include videos depicting a child aged between two and four. There are images that are prohibited and images that are extreme.

“It is said you have no sexual interest in children. But when asked why it is you were looking at it, it’s said you were simply viewing material that is widely available.”

Judge Dodd handed Murad a sentence of two years and nine months. He will have a sexual harm prevention order for the next 15 years and be subject to notification requirements for life.