A paedophile who was seen “clearly shaking” in the dock after his depraved WhatsApp messages were revealed in court has been jailed for 30 months.

Lewis Cheung, 41, was found to have shared hundreds of indecent images of children with a fellow WhatsApp user, who he referred to as his “amazing friend”, and in a series of vile chats, he confessed to “loving beast porn”. Liverpool Crown Court heard that Cheung had hit “rock bottom” after his relationship broke down and due to his “spiralling” cocaine use.

He was caught by Merseyside Police during an investigation into his unnamed contact. Cheung was said to have used the name ‘Lennox Fab’ as he sent the male a number of indecent images of children. Daniel Bramhall, prosecuting, described how the two also “spoke of meeting up for sexual purposes”.

Cheung meanwhile told the other man that he “f***ing loved beast porn”, adding: “Thank you for sharing with me, my amazing friend. I really appreciate you doing it for me.”

After seizing a his mobile phone, police found 852 indecent pictures and eight videos of children aged as young as four being discovered on the device. Of these, 268 were graded as being in category A – those showing the most serious forms of abuse.

The 41-year-old had also downloaded two computer generated prohibited images and 149 extreme pornographic images. When interviewed, he admitted being “addicted to pornography and drugs” and said he “wanted help”. Charles Lander, defending, told the court: “He knows that these are serious offences. He is ashamed, remorseful and guilt ridden. He knows that people who read these kinds of cases in the local press will expect offenders to go to prison for a significant period of time.”

“The defendant is clearly at rock bottom. He is clearly shaking. Things effectively snowballed, initially due to drug use and later the end of his relationship. His young nephew sadly developed a serious illness and passed away. Against that background, his cocaine use spiralled. He turned to the internet. His father is in hospital suffering from cancer. He knows nothing of these offences. He is concerned, particularly for his father and his mother who has her own illnesses. The defendant is looking after her and tending to her needs.”

Cheung pleaded guilty to distributing indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of children and possession of extreme pornographic images. He appeared to be shaking once more in the dock as he was jailed for 30 months.

Sentencing, Judge David Swinnerton said: “This is not a one-off. Sexualised images of children and the possession of them are treated seriously, and the distribution of them even more seriously. While some people seem to think that it is just looking at a picture, what I want you to remember is that every single one represents a real child being sexually abused or raped somewhere in the world.

“You are getting your sexual kicks from looking at the abuse of real children. The fact that there is a market from people like you perpetuates abuse. You are perpetuating that market, and you are part of it. I accept that you are struggling with your mental health. I accept that you have reached rock bottom. I suppose many people with paedophilic tendencies who have been caught and are sitting in the dock of a court are at rock bottom.”

Cheung was handed a lifelong sexual harm prevention order and will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

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