A HOMELESS man made internet searches for extreme animal pornography, a court has heard.

Gregory Barker was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday (August 27) for one count of possessing extreme pornographic images.

The 58-year-old was caught with 105 pornography images depicting bestiality on his phone in September last year.

READ MORE: Three inquest openings heard into Oxfordshire deaths

Further searches were found on his phone for pornography involving animals.

Barker was also sentenced for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO),  failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders register, and breaching a suspended sentence order.

Judge Ian Pringle handed him an 18-month community order as the defendant has already been in custody for eight months – the equivalent of a 16-month jail sentence.

He said: “You have a choice. You can either continue to appear regularly in courts or you can try and address your problems both physically and mentally.”

During the sentencing, it was heard that Barker had been sentenced at Grimsby Crown Court in August 2021 for possession of extreme pornographic images and was made subject to the SHPO and notification requirements.

READ MORE: Scales of Justice: The latest cases from Oxford Magistrates' Court

Barker then went missing from Lincolnshire in August 2023 but was shortly located the following month in Oxfordshire.

He was in breach of his notification requirements by not updating police on where he was living or updating officers on his new mobile device.

Upon seizure of the device, the extreme pornographic images were found. Barker claimed he was sent the images from American women on Facebook and had not wanted them.

However, searches were found on his phone in relation to animal pornography.

He was further arrested for possession of these images in December and he has been on remanded in prison ever since.

These offences put him in breach of a suspended sentence issued at the same court in November last year, four month suspended for 12 months, of possession of an offensive weapon.

Defencing Barker, his barrister George Josef explained that his client has several health issues including blood cats and COBD.

“He is an extremely ill man,” he said. “He has a number of mental health issues and has been sectioned twice.”

READ MORE: 'Drug toxicity' reason for Abingdon man's death, inquest heard

Mr Josef said that because of his illness, unpaid work would not be a suitable punitive sentence for his client.

As well as the community order, Barker was also ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation activity days and he was made subject to a new five-year SHPO.

The court heard that Barker, of no fixed abode, plans to return to Lincolnshire to live with his father.