A Warrington man has been jailed for two years after police found thousands of indecent images of children on his phone. Benjamin Merrill, 31, of Stonehaven Drive, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, where he admitted multiple charges related to child abuse material.
Officers executed a search warrant at Merrill's home on July 24 last year and found him upstairs in bed with an iPhone 16 Max. The device contained "large quantities of illegal images of children," with at least 1,366 indecent images discovered, including 296 pictures and videos in category A, the most serious forms of abuse involving boys and girls aged between one and 10.
Extensive Collection and Sharing
Prosecutor Cecilia Pritchard said a further 146,000 images on the phone were not checked, noting: "It cannot be said that they all are indecent images of children, but some of them are. The reason that they have not been categorised is that a high quantity have already been categorised as indecent images."
Merrill shared indecent images with others in group chats between March and May 2025. His messages included statements that he would "love to have his own boy" to sexually abuse and claimed to have previously assaulted a six-year-old child. Another text read "we both need to lose our b**** for being paedos, looking at boys being raped," and he added in another: "I'm a paedo. I'd go back to prison if I was seen."
He also collected seven AI-generated sexualised images depicting boys aged two to 12. Ms Pritchard told the court: "The crown would submit it is very clear that he does have an interest in children. That chat does indicate a desire to fulfil his sexual urges in real life."
Background and Mitigation
Merrill had no previous convictions but received a police caution for possession of indecent images in 2014. His defence, Adam Brown, said his client accepted his sexual interest in children and wished to seek help. Brown cited the bereavement of Merrill's mother in 2021, which led to isolation and regular alcohol abuse, and noted his client lives with his step-father, who suffers from poor health, and acts as his registered carer.
Merrill admitted possession of indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images, six of distributing indecent images and possession of prohibited images of children. He was jailed for two years.
Sentencing Remarks
Sentencing, Judge Anil Murray said: "You have no previous convictions, but you do have a caution, about 10 years before these offences, for possession of an indecent photograph of a child. Yours is a long standing and unhealthy sexual interest in children. You didn't learn the lesson of that previous caution."
The judge added: "Lots of people are lonely. Lots of people are depressed. They don't all share images of children being raped and sexually abused." He concluded: "You have involved yourself in the distribution of such images. By that, you have crossed the line and there is a strong need for deterrents."
Merrill was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and will be required to sign the sex offenders' register for the next decade.
