Telford sex offender had pictures of under-age girls on memory device
Police found a memory stick containing pictures of young girls in swimsuits and school uniforms belonging to a man who had been jailed five years earlier for having 450,000 images of children on his computer, a court heard.
Unemployed James Broadhurst was banned from having any pictures of children after he was sentenced to two years in jail in 2010 for possessing the vast array of images and distributing them to others.
The 39-year-old, formerly of Smallwood, Sutton Hill, Telford, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court to admit breaching the terms of his Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
Mr John Oates, prosecuting, said Broadhurst's ex-partner was having a clear-out in October last year and found a memory stick in a draw. She handed it in to police after seeing there were pictures on it of girls who seemed to be aged between 10 and 13 "wearing swimwear".
The prosecutor said: "Police found 889 images on the memory stick – 276 appeared to be images of persons likely to be under 18."
It is the third time Broadhurst, now of Stonnall Road, Walsall, has been in court for offences relating to images of children.
The court heard that, after being jailed at Wolverhampton Crown Court in 2010, Broadhurst received a further two-year jail sentence in January last year for another breach of the SOPO order, namely that he should have no contact with children. He had started a new relationship with a woman who had children, the court was told. He was released last month.
Mr William Douglas-Jones, for Broadhurst, said his client had started a forklift drivers' training course and was hoping to get work after finishing the qualification.
Judge Peter Barrie sentenced Broadhurst to a three-year community order with a requirement to be supervised by the probation service and to complete an internet sex offender programme.
Broadhurst was also ordered to pay £120 court costs.
