Almost 22,000 indecent images were found on 30-year-old’s computer

A pervert who downloaded almost 22,000 images of child porn onto his home computer has been sent to jail.

Leon Patrice, 30, of Fernbank Avenue, Wembley, was caught with thousands of vile images after police raided the house he shares with his mother in June 2009.

Southwark Crown Court heard officers recovered a computer, USB memory stick, and a number of external hard drives which had all been used to store the photos, heard.

Patrice downloaded 21,931 pictures including 1,008 at level four and 36 at level five - which is reserved for the most depraved images of sadism and bestiality.

Peter Lancaster, prosecuting, said: “When they attended Mr Patrice admitted that he had images on his computer.

“The equipment was taken from the address to be analysed.

“On the equipment the police were able to find there were 18,853 images at level one, at level two there was 1,647, at level three 657, at level four 1,008 and at level five 36.”

The court heard that only 202 images remained accessible to Patrice as others had been deleted and had to be recovered using specialist software.

Patrice admitted 12 counts of making indecent images.

Jailing him for 10 months, Judge Stephen Robbins said: “Courts must always bear in mind the use and terrible abuse of children for the purpose of this child pornography and the public abhorrence of this type of criminality, but also the court must bear in mind sentences passed in similar cases for reasons of parity.”

Patrice was ordered to sign on to the sexual offenders register for ten years and made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order for the same period.