A YOUNG nurse could face a jail sentence after pleading guilty to 12 charges of downloading child pornography from the Internet.

Lee Wright appeared before Sedgefield magistrates yesterday after having previously pleaded guilty to downloading 8,567 images of children.

The court heard that some of the images involving children as young as four.

Michael Clarke, on behalf of Wright, said: "My client was aware that when he pleaded guilty that there was a possibility that he could be sent to prison for this.

"He fully accepts that he had an interest in pornography but has no special interest in child pornography whatever the prosecution and police may say.''

Mr Clarke said that the case had taken its toll on Wright and his family, with both him and his mother suffering from depression. The family are standing by him, despite abuse since the allegations were made public.

Wright also faces the prospect of losing his job as a nurse at the University of North Durham hospital.

Wright has always claimed that he did not know he had downloaded images of children from a website which had been monitored closely by the FBI in America.

His details were passed on to the English police by the FBI as part of a nationwide investigation.

Paul Hunter, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Wright downloaded images and hid them on his computer under a different name.

Magistrates said the charges were too serious for them to deal with. Wright was committed to Teesside Crown Court for sentencing.