A NEWPORT man was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment after admitting charges which involved possessing more than 11,000 indecent images of children.

Ian Hustler, 29, of Merchants Court, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court to be sentenced for six charges of distributing indecent images of children, ten charges of making indecent images of children and one charge of possessing indecent images of children.

He was also sentenced for a charge of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

The court heard Hustler pleaded guilty to all the charges, which were committed between 2009 and the beginning of 2011.

Prosecuting, Gareth James said three of the distributing indecent images charges came following the seizure of a computer in the Thames Valley area which had 58 indecent images sent to it from an e-mail relating to the defendant.

The other three distribution charges and the attempt to incite a child to engage in sexual activity related to contact Hustler made to an undercover police officer in Australia who was posing as a child.

The remaining charges came to light when a family friend discovered indecent images on a laptop used by Hustler while fixing it.

The laptop, three memory sticks, a mobile phone and a second laptop were all seized by police and a "significant" number of indecent images were found.

Mr James said the case involved a total of 11,429 images, including 824 images at level four and 89 classed at the most serious level of level five.

Representing Hustler, Susan Ferrier said the defendant was an "immature and childlike person" who had suffered problems with his confidence and was remorseful.

Judge Philip Hughes sentenced Hustler to two years for the 18 charges.

He also sentenced Hustler to six months imprisonment to be served consecutively after Hustler committed the offences while serving a suspended sentence for theft, possession of an article for use in fraud, resisting a police officer and perverting the course of justice.

Hustler was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years, made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order until a further order and disqualified from working with children indefinitely.