Jason Hannah 34

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A sex offender was caught "returning to his old ways" after sharing pictures and videos of child abuse in a "nothing off limits" chatroom. He claimed to be exchanging the illegal images for "normal" pornography online.

Jason William Hannah of Church Street in Flint, had previously been banned from using certain parts of the internet. But he came to the attention of the authorities when he was found back in the dark corners of the web.

The 32-year-old was brought before Mold Crown Court charged with six counts of sharing indecent images of children. In doing so, he had breached part of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The court was told by prosecutor, Mr Michael Whitty, that Hannah was first jailed back in 2015 for 10 months after the police found more than 1,600 images of children being abused on his computer. He was living in the Connah's Quay area at the time.

After being released from prison, the court heard how Hannah "went back to his old ways". Last summer, in June 2021, he downloaded and created a Kik account - a file sharing platform - which is something he was banned from doing by the courts.

The police were alerted by the company that a user was involved in sharing images and videos of children being sexually abused. An investigation soon revealed it was the defendant.

Hannah was arrested in October 2021 when the police searched his property for any electronic devices. His iPhone was taken by the police to be checked but the 32-year-old made "full and frank admissions" about what they'd uncover on the device, said Mr Whitty.

In interview, he spoke about going though a "bad period" in his marriage and how he downloaded the app to seek out "normal" pornography. The dad said he then found himself in a "nothing off limits" chat group where the child abuse material had been shared.

He accepted that he didn't tell anyone about the account because he knew it would "get him into trouble". He also admitted to sharing a total of seven files over the period of a week - all being in the most serious category.

Defending, Mr Bouge, told the court how his client accepts he should not have done what he had done. He added that "thankfully" it appears he only engaged in the activity for a short period of time and that the "sharing" of files only involved one other person.

He said that the pre-sentence report "doesn't really help him at all" as he maintained having "no sexual interest in children". However, according to Mr Bouge, Hannah has accepted this is not the case and has "struggled" to "face up to the fact" this attraction is something he "cannot ignore".

He told the court that his client knows the only realistic option the judge can consider is immediate prison. The defence say that he has also been made aware that this time it would be longer than his last stint behind bars.

Judge Rhys Rowlands agreed, saying that Hannah clearly "hasn't learnt anything" from his last jail sentence. Addressing the defendant, he said that he'll be going back to prison for two years.

"This was a calculated and quite deliberate attempt to bypass the order. You did so in order to further what remains to be a pretty obsessive and worrying need to access these images of children.

"The images themselves were very disturbing. Plainly, you have learnt nothing from your previous time in prison.

"In my view, there is no realistic prospect of rehabilitation with you at present. I'm firmly of that view because of your non-compliance with the existing order and by you retuning to your old ways."