A JUDGE described a court case involving images of children being sexually abused as one of the worst she had seen in a decade.

Judge Beatrice Bolton spoke out as she jailed Kenneth Elrick, 39, of Cleadon, South Tyneside, after he admitted downloading the images from the Internet between May and December 2001.

Sentencing him to 15 months in jail with an extended licence period of three years, she said: "The video found in your possession was appalling.

"You are someone who gets excited at children being humiliated and that is extremely worrying. This is the worst case I have seen in ten years."

The court heard how an horrific eighteen-and-a-half minute video which depicted the rape of a teenage girl was found at his home in East Boldon Road.

Police raided his address in October last year and found the images, along with pornographic videoclips, on his home computer.

Caroline Goodwin, prosecuting, said 339 images were found, along with 92 floppy discs and 20 CDs.

She told the court how Elrick was in contact with other Internet perverts via e-mail.

Miss Goodwin said Elrick was arrested along with his wife, but she was later released without charge.

Ian Graham, in mitigation, told the court how the couple had suffered severely since his arrest.

Elrick was ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years.