A HAMPSHIRE man has been caught in possession of almost 4,000 indecent images of children.

Stephen Hicks admitted downloading images, of which 860 were classed as category A – the most serious kind.

The 57-year-old also had nine category A moving images, and more than 2,000 category B still images.

Hicks also had hundreds of category C images, as well as an extreme pornographic image, involving an animal.

The images were downloaded between 2009 and 2018.

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Appearing at Southampton Crown Court, Hicks, of Barton Court Avenue, Barton-on-Sea, pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent image of a child.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing an extreme pornographic image.

Hicks, who was released on unconditional bail, will be sentenced on March 21 following the completion of a pre-sentence report.

Judge Nicholas Rowland said: "This will be an all options report, which will include the possibility of a custodial sentence, particularly given the number of images involved."