A COUNCILLOR has gone on trial charged with making and distributing indecent images of children.

Matthew Sephton, aged 41, is charged with six counts relating to images of children, the first three allegedly relating to making indecent images, between November 4 and December 1, 2016.

The primary school teacher was arrested on December 1, 2016, when officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) carried out a search warrant at his home in Maximus Drive, Altrincham.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard today that NCA seized two Apple iPhones from Sephton's bedroom and an iMac computer from the study during the search at 6.40am.

Sephton was arrested and taken to Cheadle Police Station.

The jury heard how the NCA took copies of the computer hard drive and examined the devices.

The court was told specialist software was used to retrieve images.

It heard the NCA discovered 31 indecent videos of children and 3,774 indecent still images of children.

Huw Edwards, prosecuting said: "One of the phones was recovered with 106 images of children and a number of images of an extreme pornographic nature.

"Within one application, there were a large number of text conversations, mostly in group conversations, and mostly talking about the sharing of indecent images of children.

"Most of those groups contained a title that was immediately indicative that those groups were talking about indecent images of children. Some of the icons were indecent images of children themselves.

"The Facebook messenger and text communications quite clearly relate to a sexual interest in under age children, specifically boys."

The trial continues.