Jailed: Stafford paedophile was caught with 160 phone images
A paedophile from Stafford who was caught with indecent images of children on his mobile phone has been jailed for more than seven years.
Police seized Christopher Nock's phone while he was being treated as an in-patient at St George's Hospital in Stafford.
On it were more than 160 pornographic photos, including 22 of the most vile category A, some showing prepubescent children.
Nock, aged 45, of Prescott Avenue, was given a sentence of seven years and eight months, with 20 months immediate custody and a further six years on extended licence. He pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children.
The sentence, under the dangerous offender provisions, was passed by Judge Carmel Wall, who branded Nock a 'high risk' to young children.
"You are not somebody who just looks at indecent images," she told him, referring to his previous convictions for sex offences. "You have been given a sex offender programme, yet you are still before the court again."
Stafford Crown Court heard that in 2005 he had been given a community order with a sex offender treatment programme for sexual activity with two very young girls. Miss Michelle Heeley, prosecuting, said police were called to St George's Hospital on May 23 this year where Nock was receiving treatment and seized his mobile phone.
On it were 22 indecent images of children of category A, 44 in category B and 95 in category C.
"As the officers were speaking to him, he said 'I'm so embarrassed, I was ill and on drugs'," she said.
Mr Daniel Oscroft, defending, said: "This is a man who struggles to accept his own mental health issues – even today he maintains he doesn't."
