The court heard that Cooper was with two female friends at an address when one asked to borrow his phone on March 23 last year. Omar Ahmad, prosecuting, continued: “She intended to access Snapchat but accidentally opened his camera roll and, in that, found indecent images and videos of children.

“She handed the phone back to the defendant without letting him know what she’d seen. [The friend] then informed [the other friend] and, the following day, she too asked to borrow the defendant’s phone and she also saw the images and videos on the phone.”

The court was told that the police were informed and Cooper was arrested at his home and his two phones and laptop were seized. In total, 467 category A items were found, including 91 videos, 560 category B, including 16 videos, and 556 category C, including four videos. One prohibited image was also discovered.

Mr Ahmad said they had been amassed over a 10-year period between 2010 and 2021 and involved youngsters between the ages of six months and 16 years old.

Further forensic analysis of the devices revealed Cooper had distributed 13 category A and 12 category C photos to others on social media platforms Kik, Google Hangout and Telegram.