A Southampton man who called himself 'Randy Walrus' and is 'into young girls' has been jailed for having indecent images of children.

Sex offender Ryan Maidment, 23, was caught several years after previously being handed a suspended jail term for sharing images with other paedophiles.

Maidment - who is said to suffer from depression and is about to change gender - had shared videos and images of children as young as two on a chat site when he was 17.

Back in 2020 he was handed an 18-month term suspended for two years for three charges of distributing and three charges of possessing indecent images.

Now he has appeared in court again after police seized his devices and found 10 pictures.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Maidment, of Rotterdam Towers, International Way, had “relapsed” in 2021.

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Police seized three devices, including a mobile phone and a computer, after being tipped off about indecent images being accessed.

Maidment admitted three charges of making indecent images between July 22, 2021, and January 8, 2022. This meant he breached his suspended sentence.

The images included three rated at Category A – the most severe kind – three Category B and three Category C.

Prosecuting, Charles Gabb said it is “quite clear he was into young girls”.

The court heard he had two email addresses, describing himself as “Randy Walrus” on one of them.

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Judge Nicholas Rowland said Maidment had made some progress after walking free last time but had breached the order.

Jailing him, he said: “Reoffending in this way is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified”.

Maidment was jailed for 12 months and given a sexual harm prevention order to last for 10 years.

He must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Mitigating, Stephen Tricker said that there was only a “small number of images,” adding that his client didn’t have an opportunity to fully engage with probation after his previous conviction due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said Maidment is taking medication for depression and is currently planning to go through "gender transfer treatment".

“[He is] at a crossroads in his life. He clearly wishes to go ahead with the gender transfer treatment.

“He does regret that he has relapsed. He expresses through me remorse for his offences."