A PAEDOPHILE distributed sickening child abuse images online while under investigation by police after being caught possessing them.

Shaleem Nazish was rumbled in possession of more than 6,000 of the vile images and videos after officers attended his Bewsey home.

The 24-year-old had previously been spared jail in 2016 for three counts of making indecent images of children (IIOC) and handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

But this was flouted by Nazish as he ‘struggled to stay on the straight and narrow’ after his help from the probation service ended following the completion of his suspended sentence.

He appeared for sentence at Liverpool Crown Court this morning, Monday, after pleading guilty to breaching his sexual harm prevention order, possessing IIOC, three counts of making IIOC, possessing prohibited IOC and three counts of distributing IIOC.

Paul Blasbury, prosecuting, explained how a condition of Nazish’s sexual harm prevention order was to make any devices available to police for inspection and not to delete any internet history.

Officers attended his Allen Street home on March 28, 2019, as a result of information received and found the defendant on his iPhone in his bedroom.

They caught him trying to delete data from the phone, which had to be forcibly removed from his grasp. On the phone was IIOC.

Nazish was subsequently arrested, with the phone and other devices seized and forensically examined. More IIOC were found on his Apple MacBook and a second iPhone.

During a police interview, he admitted looking at IIOC and that he had a sexual interest in boys aged between eight and 12, also revealing he had more images in a cloud-based folder.

He told officers he tried to ‘stay on the straight and narrow’ and had engaged with probation service during his suspended sentence period, but had struggled after that.

He was released under investigation, but between April 30 and June 1, 2020, police received information that the defendant was part of a group chat where IIOC were being shared and distributed.

The court heard how Nazish had messaged a group member who was unknowingly an undercover operative. He discussed sexual abuse of children and suggested moving to a more-secure platform.

Shaleem Nazish was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court

Shaleem Nazish was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court

Officers again attended his address on June 18 and he was arrested. During the period since being released under investigation, he had continued to access IIOC.

Forensic examination of his devices revealed he was in possession of 6,471 IIOC, of which 570 were videos and all of which involved boys between the age of six months and 12 years.

Of this number, 936 were classed as category A – the most severe category involving images of child rape.

Officers also discovered 28 prohibited videos involving boys and girls between the ages of four and 12, while Nazish was found to have distributed 186 IIOC – including 11 in category A – between his first and second police interviews.

He was found to be in breach of his sexual harm prevention order through deleting two social media apps.

Michael Phillips, defending, referred to a ‘traumatic experience’ in his client’s life before moving to the country at a young age from Pakistan which could have contributed to him ‘falling into this heinous way of life’.

He said that the defendant had ‘not had the easiest of times’ after moving to the country, but he had earned GCSEs, A-levels and a degree in chemistry at university with the hope of working in vaccine research.

Nazish did not do as well as he hoped due to charges hanging over him in 2015 and struggled to gain employment after graduating due to his conviction.

This, according to Mr Phillips, caused him to sink into depression and revert back to ‘what in the past had given him pleasure’.

He spoke of how the defendant ‘realised he really did need help’ after his second arrest, leading him to complete a course with Pure Life Ministries and work with a psychotherapist, and of his ‘shame, remorse, embarrassment and determination to not be in this predicament again’.

Before sentencing, recorder Eric Lamb said: “I accept that the shame and guilt you have expressed is genuine, and that you are anxious to make changes in your life to avoid further offending as a result of your addiction.

“It is clear from all the information I have received you have a very serious addiction and that you are taking steps to address the addiction you have.”

Nazish was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, made the subject of a new sexual harm prevention order for an indefinite period and told he must sign the sex offender’s register.