A TOP Cheshire judge has hit out at 'ridiculous' delays in processing cases involving indecent images of children.

Patrick Thompson was speaking at the sentencing of a 71-year-old Manchester man, who downloaded more than 1,000 indecent images over two years.

Gary Shields, of Milburn Avenue, had been arrested by police on July 9, 2019, and despite candidly admitting the charges at the time, it took nearly three years to reach court.

Judge Thompson said it was quite right for the public to expect prison for such defendants, but because of the delay in bringing the matter to court, meant Shields’ time behind bars would be suspended.

He said: “There have been 27 cases of this nature that have taken more than two years to reach the court.

“It’s absolutely farcical and it makes the judge’s job impossible.

“It also leads to criticism from the public when these sentences are published in the press – we get told that judges are complicit, that they are nonces and all this.

“If it’s a case that they need more money – my council tax seems to go up every year and I don’t see any extra police officers on the streets.”

To make matters worse, the police hadn’t completed a schedule to analyse the exact nature of what the images were, although 148 of them were classed as category A – the most serious.

“We’ve waiting three years and we still don’t know how bad these images are,” Judge Thompson lamented.

“How this is justice is beyond me.

“The delays have been ridiculous and no fault of the defendant, who would have gone to prison if this matter had come to court earlier.

“Quite rightly, that’s what the public expects in cases like this involving deplorable images.

“There is a list of poor excuses from the police, but you will be the beneficiary of that.”

Shields was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He admitted looking at the images for around two years, telling officers he was 'fascinated' and 'disgusted' by them.

“Quite what on earth was going on in your mind is beyond me,” Judge Thompson told him.

“You should hang your head in shame.

“These children are only being abused because men like you have a perverse sexual interest in viewing the images.

“Hopefully you will realise how disgusting and reprehensible your behaviour has been.”

Shields was told he must also complete 150 hours of unpaid work.