Police who raided a Kidderminster house found 3,778 examples of child pornography on computer equipment, and many were in the most serious category, prosecutor Paul Whitfield told a court.

He said that examination of the computer showed that 25-year-old James Evans had been involved in chatrooms with seven other users and nearly 2,000 images had been distributed between October 2007 and June 2008.

Evans, of Rifle Range Road, Foley Park, pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court to 11 counts of possessing and distributing indecent material.

He was jailed for two years, ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register and disqualified for life from working with children.

Mr Whitfield said Evans had a conviction in March this year when Kidderminster magistrates made a restraining order after he admitted a fixation with a young woman.

Marian Lewis, defending, said Evans suffered from a depressive illness. He had been a victim of abuse and parental neglect in childhood and had been unable to form relationships.