A SECURITY guard was caught with child pornography after his wife raised the alarm.

Police were called and found more than 300 images of youngsters on a mobile phone belonging to David Jones, 48, from Selby Gardens, Consett, County Durham.

He told officers had been downloading indecent images of children aged eight to 16 for up to five years and had accessed about 5,000 pictures.

Clare Irving, prosecuting at Consett Magistrates Court today (Tuesday May 7) said Jones admitted searching for pictures of pre-pubescent girls from the internet for his own sexual gratification.

She said: “They were of young girls standing around. He said none of the images were of a sexual nature.

“But he said he knew it was illegal for him to possess the images and he had no lawful reason to.”

The court heard Jones has a grown up daughter who no longer lives in the region and a step daughter, who has a daughter of her own.

Ms Irving added: “His wife was not aware of the images. He didn’t know any of the children and didn’t take any images himself.

“He didn’t enter any specific chat room. He says he has never had sex with a child.”

Jones pleaded guilty to 16 counts of making indecent images between January 1 and April 25 last year as well as one count of possessing over 300 pictures.

No representations were made on his behalf.

He has been warned he could be jailed and magistrates declined jurisdiction on the grounds their sentencing powers were insufficient.

He has been bailed to appear at Durham Crown Court for sentence on June 4.