Wolverhampton man escapes jail after NCA found 16 prohibited images of a sexual nature on his phone

Raymond Lawton, aged 32 also had 33 category A images, 23 category B, and four extreme images - an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) uncovered his stash.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard police officers were alerted to the images by NCA officers and went to his home on December 3 2021 but he wasn't in and they were not able to contact him.

He voluntarily gave himself up five days later and handed his Samsung phone in.

Will Douglas Jones, prosecuting said Lawton had denied having a Kik messaging account which he used to communicate with other people to share images of children between the ages of two and 15.

He said: "Police on examining the phone thoroughly, found the chat room and the images.

"What makes the case worse is some of the images were of the worst kind, the prohibited ones which included moving footage of children having sex with adults."

Sex offenders register

Lawton, of Fifth Avenue, Wolverhampton, had already admitted four charges of making an indecent photograph of a child and one of possessing extreme pornographic images.

Judge Laura Hobbs, imposing a community order of two years and a 55 day rehabilitation order, said the priority was not custody but to stop him offending again.

She said: "I have taken into account you have a learning disability and autism and don't think time served in prison would be productive, it needs some education and work on the issues you clearly have."

Lawton, who had no previous convictions, was put on the sex offenders register for five years and was given a sexual harm protection order allowing police to check his mobile devices and computer.

He was also ordered to forfeit his phone which would be destroyed.