An isolated young man has been given a chance to turn his life around after being caught with more than 100 child abuse images.

Jack Hunter attempted to delete his disgusting horde when police called at his home after concerns were raised about his online activity.

His mother warned the officers that her son could become aggressive if people entered his bedroom without asking.

The 21-year-old initially handed his mobile phone over to an officer when he came out of his room but grabbed it back when they started looking through his files.

Teesside Crown Court heard the officer managed to recover 138 prohibited images from the defendant’s phone.

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said there was 1,000 videos in the deleted file but the officer was unable to stop the process once it was begun.

She added: “He told the officer that he hadn’t left the house for more than a year and spent most of his time in her room.”

The court heard how Hunter had been diagnosed with autism and also suffered significant mental health problems including severe social anxiety.

Hunter, of North Avenue, Saltburn, pleaded guilty to possession of 13 Category A images – the most serious kind; possession of nine Category B images; possession of 114 Category C images; and two prohibited images; following his arrest on February 23, this year.

John Nixon, mitigating, said his client’s offending started when he was just 17-years-old and had lasted until he was 20.

“He is a highly damaged young man with great difficulties. This goes back to his youth when he suffered significant trauma,” he added.

“He has suffered in isolated life with his problems.”

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Judge Paul Watson KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, sentenced the pervert to 11 months in prison suspended for 18 months.

He said: “Clearly, you were making efforts to try and delete the material but the images with which you are charged were recovered and there was a significant amount of category A images, images of the most serious kind, as well as images in category B and C.”

Hunter was made subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order and told to sign on the sex offenders’ register for the same period of time.

He was also ordered to attend 35 rehabilitation activity requirement days and carry out 200 hours of community service.