Shaleem Nazish 27

Description

Shaleem Nazish kept thousands of vile sex abuse images and shared sickening child rape images

A paedophile swapped child rape images in a perverted group chat while already under police investigation.

Shaleem Nazish claimed he was listening to a podcast when officers stormed his home and tackled his phone from him.

He told officers he was "trying to pause the recording" but was actually trying to cover his tracks having downloaded 6,471 images of children being sexually abused.

Of the images 296 were videos of children aged between six months and 12 years being raped.

Despite being the subject of a police investigation the 24-year-old went on to share child rape videos in perverted group chat and "openly discussed sexually abusing children".

But he didn't realise he was talking to an undercover police officer who reported his crimes, dragging him back into a police station for further questioning.

Paul Blasbery, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court, said Nazish was convicted in 2016 for a "number of similar matters" for which he was handed a two year sentence suspended for two years.

He explained a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) was also imposed which meant he had to make any device available to police for inspection and was "prohibited from deleting internet history".

Mr Blasbery said "as a result of information received" police attended his home at 6am on March 28, 2019, and stormed into his bedroom where Nazish was "sitting on his bed with a mobile telephone in his hand".

He said he "appeared to be attempting to alter data on the device in spite of being told on several occasions to put the device down".

He added: "He refused resulting in force being used to remove the device from his grasp."

Mr Blasbery said indecent images were found on the device and a laptop and another phone were also seized.

In a police interview Nazish claimed he had been "listening to a podcast" and there were "so many people in the room he was just trying to pause the recording".

He claimed he didn't remember uploading indecent images of children to the phone but admitted he had looked at indecent images of children online.

The court heard he had used a number of applications and had downloaded 936 category A images, which involve children being raped, 1,123 category B images and 4,412 category C images.

He also had 28 prohibited images of children.

Of the images 296 were videos of children being raped, with ages ranging between six months old and 12 years.

Mr Blasbery said Nazish told police he had sought help from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and the probation service after his first conviction but said he had "been struggling since then".

He admitted he had a "sexual interest in boys aged eight to 12" and was released under investigation.

But while under investigation Nazish took part in a group chat where he had shared indecent images of children in all categories on a number of platforms.

Nazish used different user names and shared the sickening images both in a chat and in a private chat with an undercover police officer.

He had also "openly discussed sexually abusing children".

Nazish was arrested again, Mr Blasbery explained, and told officers "he had been struggling with his mental health, doing counselling with a psychotherapist who had been unable to help him so his mental health had 'taken a hit' and was why he had continued his activity".

He admitted sharing indecent images of children on Snapchat and using a Wickr account to "message random people with the same sexual interest".

Nazish said he also used Instagram to download images of child sex abuse which he would move to a different account.

He distributed 11 category A indecent images, 13 category B images and 162 category C indecent images, which involved children aged between eight and 12.

Michael Phillips, defending, said Nazish came to the UK in 2002 and "just before he arrived" suffered a "very traumatic experience", which was not described in open court.

He said he has a "deep sense of shame and guilt" and following his previous conviction had "tried as best as he can in order to move things along" but "wasn't able to stay on the straight and narrow".

Mr Phillips said a police officer who was "tasked with his supervision" had initially told Nazish he was "so well-behaved" and they "probably didn't need to bother him".

He said this was "a red flag to a bull".

Mr Phillips said as a child Nazish had low self esteem and moved schools a number of times where he was "often the only Asian child".

Nazish gained a chemistry degree from UCLAN and "hoped to go into the vaccine business and research".

Mr Phillips said after he was sentenced in January 2016 Nazish "didn't do as well as he could have done as a result of having to deal with allegations" and has subsequently struggled to find work as a result of his conviction.

He said Nazish then suffered from anxiety and depression and "reverted to what he knew in the past had given him pleasure".

Mr Phillips said he "didn't really seek the help he needed to" but "really recognised now he needed more help" which he had sought from a psychotherapist.

Nazish, of Allen Street, Warrington, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children between December 22, 2014, and June 19, 2020, possessing prohibited images of children between the same dates and three counts of distributing indecent images of children between April 30, 2020 and June 19 of the same year.

The judge, Recorder Eric Lamb, said: "I accept the shame and guilt which you expressed was genuine.

"I accept you are anxious to make changes to your life to avoid further offending in this way as a result of your addiction."

The judge said a pre-sentence report found Nazish to be a medium risk of harm.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Nazish was ordered to adhere to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life and must sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.