A 22-year-old has pleaded guilty to possessing more than 10,000 indecent images and videos of children.

Christopher Knee, who gave his address as Helensburgh near Glasgow but whose offences were committed in Swindon, appeared before magistrates on May 3.

The court heard that between 2014 and 2016, Knee had in his possession 7,695 images and 467 videos of children classed as category B on the seriousness scale.

Between the same dates, he also had 1,148 movies and 2,305 images that were in category A - the most serious.

On January 27 2016, he had 685 "extreme pornographic images" involving intercourse with live animals, namely dogs and horses which were described as "grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character."

In addition to pleading guilty to the possession offences, Knee also pleaded guilty to distributing a significant number of videos and images by Kik and Whatsapp between 2015 and 2016.

The court heard the activity involved 14 images and 76 movies - 44 in the most serious category.

Magistrates determined that their sentencing powers - six months for a single offence and a maximum of 12 months for multiple offences - were insufficient to deal with the offences in question.

Knee will now appear before a judge at Swindon Crown Court to be sentenced.

In the mean time he has been released on bail but is banned from having any contact with children under the age of 16 in any private place.

He was also instructed to immediately register with police as a sex offender - the amount of time he must remain on the register will be determined by the sentence he ultimately receives.