A pensioner paid women to live stream the sexual abuse of children to him from The Philippines, a court has heard.

Bernard Grace, from Wythenshawe, made more than 600 payments totalling more than £20,000 over some six years.

The 72-year-old, of Stoneacre Road, was arrested around two years ago after the National Crime Agency (NCA) received intelligence about the payments.

They seized a laptop from his home and saw he was in touch with more than 20 people in The Philippines, one of them under investigation for trafficking.

It became clear he paid women to live stream the sexual abuse of children.

Grace, an ex-coach driver who was in contact with youngsters in his line of work, was charged with multiple counts of arranging the commission of a sexual offence and two counts of making an indecent image.

He admitted the offences and he was sentenced to eight years in prison at Crown Court on May 12.

Grace was also sentenced to life on the sex offenders register and a sexual harm prevention order.

NCA Operations Manager Graham Clare said: "Bernard Grace was an unrelenting offender whose actions led to several children being abused in the most horrific and depraved manner for his own sexual gratification.

"He may have thought he would avoid detection by arranging for abuse to take place against vulnerable children on the other side of the globe, but the NCA has the capabilities to investigate online and internationally. 

"We work with overseas partners to tackle the abhorrent abuse of children, and actively target offenders who pay for it to be live streamed. There is no bigger priority for us than protecting children, wherever they may be." 

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.