A man charged with viewing child pornography did not know he was looking at images of under 16-year-olds because he is blind, a court has heard.

Andrew Shaw, 44, was aided into Blackpool Magistrates Court, Lancashire by his black Labrador guide dog.

His wife who was supporting her husband is also blind and was led to the court by her white Labrador guide dog.

Shaw of Derby Road, Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire faces three offences of possessing 71 downloaded obscene images of children on his computer. Twelve of the images are alleged to be of the worst variety.

He said: "This is an unusual case as my client is registered blind. He has no sight in one eye and only a small amount in the other."

"It may be argued that difficulty with his vision makes it difficult for him to put an age to images he downloads. He may think he is looking at 16-year olds."

Shaw was granted bail.