A Fareham man has been jailed after police found over 68,000 child abuse images on his devices.

Ian Wraith, 75, was arrested at his home in Birdwood Grove on July 31 after police received information that explicit images of children were being accessed at his address.

Hampshire Constabulary confiscated and examined his devices following his arrest – first finding 1,256 videos before recovering and grading a further 66,842 still images.

These images were assessed and 482 were listed as Category A – the most serious category.

Police noted that while 68,107 files were graded, he possessed many more images which they did not assess.

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They therefore conclude that the extent of his offending was much larger than what was graded.

The 75-year-old had previously served prison time for similar offences and breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) by deliberately deleting his internet history, which he was not allowed to do.

Mr Wraith was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children and two counts of breaching a SHPO.

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He admitted all of the charges and was jailed for two years and eight months at Portsmouth Crown Court on November 15.

DC Aimee Scott-Molloy, from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team (ICAT), said: “Ian Wraith has a history of possessing huge quantities of indecent images of children. His continued efforts to do so in spite of court orders against him and previous prison sentences shows his flagrant disregard for the law and the risk he poses to young people.

“It must not be understated that behind every indecent image of a child is a vulnerable victim, and these crimes are among the most appalling that police can investigate.

“ICAT are a specialist team dedicated to targeting those who use the perceived anonymity of the internet to cause serious harm to children. It is challenging work but we are committed to removing dangerous people like Wraith from the streets so we can protect children.”