Dad who ‘hated’ indecent images had 100 of children on phone

A FATHER caught with indecent images of children on his phone claimed he was trying to ‘track down paedophiles’.

Police searched 45-year-old Danny Smith’s home after receiving intelligence from the National Crime Agency.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard that when police arrived at his house in May 2018, he pulled one officer to one side and said he ‘knew why there were there’. He said that he had been online ‘trying to track paedos’ and that he had contacted paedophile hunter groups on Twitter.

Smith’s mobile phone was seized, and found to contain almost 100 indecent images of children.

Investigators found six category A images, the most serious type, with 18 category B and 73 at category C.

The majority of the images featured children aged from 10 to 12, the court heard. Police also found a chat log from a website where Smith said he had an ‘interest’ in ‘schoolgirls in uniform’.

In an interview with police, Smith said he had a ‘hatred’ of indecent images.

Smith, of Elizabeth Street, Denton, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.

Defending, Amanda Johnson said Smith is remorseful, and has had to move out of his family home because of his arrest.

She said Smith lost his job as a mechanic, and there was no suggestion of any repeat of his offending.

Judge Angela Nield sentenced Smith to a two-year community order, including 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 200 hours of unpaid work. He must sign the sex offender’s register for five years.