A MAN who was found with more than 1,000 pictures and videos of child sex abuse told police he downloaded the images because he ‘became bored with legal pornography’.

Police attended the home of then-22-year-old Gareth MacDonald in Milford Haven on the morning of March 31 last year, prosecutor Emily Bennett told Swansea Crown Court.

MacDonald’s mum answered the door, and the officers told her and the defendant they had received intelligence that child sex abuse images had been downloaded at the address.

When searching the address, police seized two mobile phones, a tablet, two hard drives and a laptop.

Ms Bennett said MacDonald asked to speak to one of the officers in private, and admitted he had been downloading indecent images, saying: ‘It’s me’.

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He was arrested and made full admissions in interview later that day.

“He stated he had become bored with legal pornography approximately one year earlier,” Ms Bennett said.

“He had watched it as recently as the previous day.”

The defendant added that he knew what he was watching was illegal, but he continued to do it anyway.

Across his devices, MacDonald was found to have 15 Category A – the most serious type, 26 Category B, and 960 Category C images.

Ms Bennett said the pictures and videos included children as young as nine, and the most serious images related to pre-teen children being raped.

The defendant had also joined a group online which described its own members as paedophiles, Ms Bennett said, although he left shortly afterwards without sharing any material. He also had cleaning software installed.

MacDonald, now 23, of Meyler Crescent in Milford Haven, had no previous convictions, and admitted three offences of making indecent images of children.

Dan Griffiths, in mitigation, admitted that the custody threshold had been “very much passed”.

“There does appear to be a realistic prospect of rehabilitation,” he said.

“He has co-operated fully with the police at the scene [and] in interview.”

He added that MacDonald “would avail himself with any offer of help” and was “willing to comply with any order”.

Judge Geraint Walters “The reality is that for some considerable period of time, you had been accessing that kind of imagery.

“You have known for a long time that it’s something you shouldn’t do.”

Judge Walters added that MacDonald was someone who would “stay in mainly” and “not go anywhere”

He sentenced MacDonald to eight months, suspended for two years. As part of this, he must complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and the Horizon programme.

MacDonald must register as a sex offender for 10 years, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.