A woman who downloaded hundreds of child porn images and sent them to another man for 'sexual gratification' has walked free court.

Laura Nixon-Corfield, 33, download the indecent pictures showing children as young as one being 'sexually tortured' a court heard.

She sent them, along with 'depraved' messages as part of sex chat to another man via a messaging app called Telegram, in which she described them as a 'turn on.'

The offences only came to light when Nixon-Corfield, of Longsight, attended Manchester Royal Infirmary and told them she was having suicidal thoughts, and divulged details of what had happened.

Hospital staff alerted then police and she was arrested.

She told them, and the court as she was sentenced today, that the man had 'exploited' her vulnerability and put pressure on her to send the images.

Nixon-Corfield, who worked as a clinical administrator for the NHS, said the man was 'abusive and controlling' and 'bombarded' her with requests 'putting pressure' on her to download and send the images to him.

However she admitted she had downloaded and sent them willingly and now admits to getting some sexual gratification from the sending of them.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is himself now being investigated by police in London, the court heard.

In total there were 250 images classed as category A, the worst severity of images, 131 category B and 10 C found on devices, including a phone and laptop, which were seized from her.

The age of the children depicted was from one years old to 12 years old, with most between being six and eight, Charlotte Crangle, prosecuting, said.

There were also 322 images of 'extreme pornography' which showed adults having sex with animals, she added.

She had also installed software on her computer which tried to hide what was being searched for on the internet.

Nixon-Corfield, of Longsight, pleaded guilty to a total of seven charges - three counts of making indecent images, three counts of distributing indecent images and one count of possessing extreme pornography - at an earlier hearing.

The former clinical trials administrator, who was of previous 'impeccable character' had now lost her job and 'any shred of credibility' she had left, Harriet Johnson, defending said.

"She doesn't wish to blame anyone else or make excuses for the actions.

"She wishes no mercy for what she sees as her truly appalling behaviour.

"She does now accept receiving some gratification from them. Not from the images or chat directly but from the reaction (of the other man)

"The court may see this as improved insight. She throws herself at the mercy of the courts."

She narrowly avoided going straight to prison with the judge saying her hitherto impeccable character meant she could suspend her two year prison sentence, for a period of two years.

Passing sentence at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday as Nixon-Corfield wept repeatedly in the dock, Judge Hilary Manley said: "At the time of these offences you were at an extremely low ebb. You had a history of mental and physical health problems

"However you did not have to do these things. You were a willing participant.

"You did not have a gun to your head, either physically or metaphorically .

"It is clear from the depraved messages you sank into this dark world with enthusiasm.

"The term child porn doesn't properly express what these images actually are.

"These are real children being sexually tortured.

"You downloading them increases the demand for them and directly leads to more children being sexually tortured.

"And these courts are all too aware of the untold damage is done to children when they are sexually a abused in this way.

"These offences only came to light when you became haunted by what you were doing and until you literally felt like you could no longer with yourself."

She narrowly avoided going straight to prison with the judge saying her hitherto impeccable character, co-operation with the police and her remorse meant she could suspend her two year prison sentence, for a period of two years.

She was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, which will limit her access to the internet and mean she cannot have unsupervised access to children.

Got a story or an issue you want us to investigate? Want to tell us about something going on where you live? Let us know - in complete confidence - by emailing newsdesk@men-news.co.uk, calling us on 0161 211 2920, tweeting us @MENnewsdesk or messaging us on our Facebook page . You can also send us a story tip using the form here . Join the Manchester Evening News breaking news Facebook group for a place to read and talk about breaking news in Greater Manchester.