A man, who as a teenager sought out indecent images of boys from the internet, has been given a community order, “as a direct alternative to prison”.

Marc Peacock, now 22, was at risk of being jailed after admitting three counts of making (downloading) indecent images of children, one each in all three categories of severity, when he appeared before magistrates last month.

The case was sent to Durham Crown Court for sentence, with a Probation Service report prepared for the hearing to look into the defendant’s background.

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Annelise Haugstad, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing that police, armed with a search warrant, attended Peacock’s home address in Shotton Colliery, at 7.30am on April 6, 2022.

Miss Haugstad said as a result of extensive CCTV covering the house, the officers were concerned any evidence may be wiped, so they forced entry.

A mobile phone was located and seized from the defendant’s bedroom.

He was later arrested at his place of work and provided police with the PIN code for the phone, but when he was later interviewed he said it was an old device and no longer in use.

But, when examined, it was discovered it had been used as recently as the previous day, and it was found to contain 122 offending images, 65 considered to be in the most serious bracket, 23 in video form, featuring boys aged between eight and 15.

Miss Haugstad said aggravating features of the case were the ages of the boys featured and the discernible pain and distress of some of those being abused, while there had been attempts to conceal the images as they were recovered from a secure folder.

They had been downloaded over a period from November 16, 2019, until the day of the defendant’s arrest, and so crossed the period when he was considered to be “a youth” to being an “adult”, in the eyes of the law.

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Calum McNicholas, for Peacock, said the main points he wanted to highlight were the defendant’s age and the fact he was of previous good character.

Mr McNicholas said since the images came to light, in April 2022, there hve been no further offences.

“This whole situation has shocked this young man into realising how stupid he has been.

“As a result, he’s taking real steps to get on the right path and his guilty plea reflects his acceptance, while, in the two years since, there has been nothing else.”

Judge Richard Bennett immediately told Mr McNicholas: “I’m not going to lock him up today.

“Most of the offending took place when he was an adult, but he’s still a young man.

“Given the length of time he was accessing these images, however, a SHPO (Sexual Harm Prevention Order) is appropriate.”

Addressing the defendant, Judge Bennett told him: “You had been accessing a significant number of images since November 2019, featuring boys aged between eight and 15 years.

“It’s clear you had a prolonged interest in this material.

“The images were saved in a secure folder, designed to hide them, which is an aggravating feature.

“Those images involved a degree of sadism with young children.

“You began looking at this material when you were young.

“I’m satisfied you were immature and didn’t realise the consequences of accessing this material.

“You’ve had time to reflect on what you did and these proceedings have had a heavy burden on you.

“A letter from your supportive family expresses the remorse you feel and the shame.

“I’m satisfied I can draw back from imposing an immediate prison sentence.”

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He imposed a two-year community rehabilitation order to include 100 hours' of unpaid work, 30-day sessions on a probation-overseen rehabilitation activity programme, costs of £150 and a statutory court surcharge of £85.

Peacock will also be subject of a SHPO and registration as a sex offender, both running for five years.

Judge Bennett warned Peacock that failure to comply with the community order would put him at risk of returning to court and receiving a more serious sentence.