A 39-year-old UK man has been convicted of possessing illegal cartoon drawings of young girls exposing themselves in school uniforms and engaging in sex acts. The case is believed to be the UK's first prosecution of illegal manga and anime images.

Local media said that Robul Hoque was sentenced last week to nine months' imprisonment, though the sentence is suspended so long as the defendant does not break the law again.

Police seized Hoque's computer in 2012 and said they found nearly 400 such images on it, none of which depicted real people but were illegal nonetheless because of their similarity to child pornography. Hoque was initially charged with 20 counts of illegal possession but eventually pled guilty to just 10 counts.

Teesside Crown Court Judge Tony Briggs said the pictures were "repulsive."

"This is material that clearly society and the public can well do without. Its danger is that it obviously portrays sexual activity with children, and the more it’s portrayed, the more the ill-disposed may think it’s acceptable," the judge told the South Bank, Middlesbrough man.

Prosecutors said the defendant was "actively searching for this material on the Internet."

But the man's lawyer claimed that such cases could make inadvertent criminals of manga fans. "This case should serve as a warning to every manga and anime fan to be careful," said Richard Bennett. "It seems there are many thousands of people in this country, if they are less than careful, who may find themselves in that position, too."

While the conviction might be a first in the UK, the US had its first such case in 2009, a prosecution that was alarming to some comics fans.