A serial sex offender downloaded a stash of child abuse images on his mother's laptop.

James Stewart, 42, of Strathairlie Avenue in Arbroath, Angus, had avoided prison on an identical charge just months before creating a new horde of indecent images of children.

Police working on a tip-off raided his flat in Dundee and his mother's home in Arbroath.

They found images stored on a hard drive and an iPad, as well as a computer belonging to Stewart's mother.

He has now been jailed for six years after a sheriff told him he had "completely subverted" a three-year community order he was placed on in early 2015.

Fiscal depute Trina Sinclair told Dundee Sheriff Court: "The accused is a repeat offender and a registered sex offender having been convicted in January 2015.

"On November 19, 2015, police received intelligence that a device connected to the internet had been downloading indecent images of children.

"The accused's property was searched along with his mother's address. Equipment was seized for examination."

Child abuse images - some at the most serious level - and almost six hours of videos were discovered.

Ms Sinclair added: "A Toshiba laptop owned by his mother was examined. The hard drive had been connected to it previously.

"It contained 174 images of males and females aged five to 15. His mother denied any knowledge of the content."

Stewart pleaded guilty on indictment to downloading indecent images of children in October and November 2015.

Defence solicitor David Sinclair said: "He is living with his mother now. He is aware he appears on a serious matter and he has breached his previous court orders as a result."

Sheriff George Way revoked the community payback order imposed on Stewart for his original offence and jailed him for three years on that charge.

He further imposed a six-year extended sentence on Stewart, with three years to be served in prison and three on licence - over the new offences.

Those sentences will be served concurrently.

The sheriff said: "This is utterly unacceptable and disgusting behaviour - he basically went behind the court's back and did it again."