A Wrexham man said to be addicted to child sex abuse images has been jailed after a court heard how he downloaded some of the worst images available including babies being abused.

Francis Anthony Duncan, 67, appeared irredeemable, a crown court judge said.

Mold Crown Court heard how more than 29,000 images had been discovered by police but they had not been categorised.

After the devices were examined and images "of the most horrid kind" were discovered, officers returned to his Wrexham home to find he had bought another computer and was at it again.

Duncan, of Y Wern, Caia Park, was jailed for 32 months and was ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for life.

A new life-time sexual harm prevention order was made under which he must, among other things, inform the police of any new devices capable to accessing the internet.

Judge David Hale said that at the age of 67, the defendant was before the court for the third time for collecting, keeping, downloading child porn of the most horrid kind.

Of the images the police had looked at - and there were 29,000 which they had not - there were 679 images and 66 videos of the worst category, some of them involving babies.

"People have suffered in the making of these images, wherever in the world they were made, just for your titilation," the judge told him.

"You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. You are almost an irredeemable addict looking at this material."

Judge Hale said that the defendant had been given help, it did not work, and he re-offended.

He was given a short prison sentence to try and deflect him from his addiction.

But when he was arrested in September he had more than 29,000 images.

The judge said: "I consider your addiction, which is what it is, to be a severe aggravating feature."

There were so many aggravating features in his case that he increased the starting point to four years before giving a one-third discount.

He had file sharing software together with software that allowed him to go on the internet anonymously - and that allowed him access to "the dark web where no doubt the worst images can be found."

Prosecuting barrister Dafydd Roberts said that when police went to his home in September he was asked if he had any illegal images - and he

replied: "Well there may be - this is me."

The initial examination of his equipment suggested that other devises had been connected and when they were examined a total of 670 still images and 66 movies at category A, the worst category, were found, together with 463 stills and 14 movies at category B.

A total of 1,446 stills and three movies were found at category C, together with two prohibited images and 11 extreme images.

In excess of 29,000 images were found which had not been categorised because of the sheer numbers.

When police returned in January they found he had another computer with further images found upon it.

Mr Roberts said that the defendant had not been charged in relation to those but the judge said that he would take them into account when sentencing.

Patrick Geddes, defending, stressed that there had been no contact offences.

There was no suggestion of distribution and there had not been an escalation in his offending.

He had been very candid with the police over his involvement and he had admitted what he had done at a very early stage in the magistrates' court.

The breaches of the order involved possessing the file sharing software and a browser which meant he could search anonymously.

Duncan had admitted at the magistrates' court making by downloading indecent images of children at category A, B and C, possessing prohibited images, possessing extreme images of bestiality, and two charges of breaching his sexual harm prevention order, and had been committed in custody to the crown court for sentence.