Paedophile claimed indecent images were planted by anti-Brexit campaigners
A paedophile told police he had been framed because of his pro-Brexit views.
David Monkhouse, of Fenham, Newcastle, downloaded a series of images and videos of categorised of the most severe sexual abuse of children as young as eight.
But in a bid to avoid jail he claimed he was being targeted in response to a series of comment he made on stories published by the Newcastle Chronicle in support of brexit, ChronicleLive reports.
However, police soon found he had downloaded the sick material and he admitted three charges of making indecent images between 2014 and 2018.
He only admitted his guilt after an expert was drafted in to investigate.
The court heard police raided the house where Monkhouse lives with his mum, in February 2018.
Indecent images were found on a laptop and computer tower and he was arrested.
Prosecutor Emma Dowling said: "He initially said the images must have been placed there by someone else.
"He said he regularly posted on the Chronicle website as a pro-Brexiteer and had been targeted.
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He had 10 of the most serious, category A images and videos, 14 category B and 17 category C and a large proportion of them were moving images.
An examination of his devices showed he had used "indicative search terms" to find the images.
The images recovered were of children aged between eight and 14.
Monkhouse, of Angerton Gardens, Fenham, was sentenced to seven months in jail suspended for 18 months with programme requirements.
He must also sign the sex offenders' register for seven years and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.
