South Shields man caught with hundreds of "stomach churning" abuse images

A loner caught with hundreds of "stomach churning" abuse images featuring children as young as just weeks old has kept his freedom.  Police seized Forhad Faruque's computer devices during a raid at his home in September 2021 and accessed his cloud storage account.  Newcastle Crown Court heard a total of 1,759 pictures and videos of children being abused were found and some of the victims were extremely young or distressed and in pain.  His collection also included three prohibited cartoon images of children and three of extreme pornography, featuring animals engaged in sexual activity with humans.  Faruque, 41, of Henry Nelson Street, South Shields, South Tyneside, admitted making indecent images of children, across all three categories of seriousness, possessing prohibited images and possessing extreme pornography.  Prosecutor Nicholas Lane said the child abuse images featured victims who were "very young, a matter of weeks old" and in some of the pictures and videos the youngsters were "in discernible pain and distress".   Judge Gavin Doig said Faruque admitted "gross offences" and told him: "The details of the images that you chose to view are stomach churning. "The children were very young, some of the children were in pain and distress. There was a very large number of images in your possession and that included moving images." Judge Doig said the offences were committed three years ago, Faruque has been in no trouble before or since, does not present a danger to the public and is capable of rehabilitation in the community. 

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Faruque was sentenced to two years, suspended for two years, with mental health treatment requirements.  He was ordered to sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.  The court heard Faruque has mental health problems and has sought help in the past.  Ian Hudson, defending, said: "He's essentially a loner and single. He has a reasonable prospect of rehabilitation." Mr Hudson said a prison sentence could cause more harm and added: "The vultures in Durham would just be waiting for him. He would be extremely vulnerable. He would be in with far more sophisticated offenders."