A former Labour Councillor boasted about training other paedophiles gave out advice on how to abuse children.

Joseph Shaw branded himself “paedo master trainer” and was part of an extreme online network of paedophiles who shared disgusting images of young children and babies.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the former Labour councillor for Wigan West had his home raided by police who found the images.

They also found footage of an extreme pornographic nature.

As Shaw was jailed for five and a half years on Wednesday, a judge described the case as ‘one of the worst he had ever seen’.

Elected back in 2004, Shaw was previously jailed in 2009 after police found an illegal gun and child abuse images at his home.

Police were called to his home, in Dicconson Street, Wigan, in January of last year after receiving information that he had breached the court order.

His home was searched and officers seized more than 30 devices, including laptops, cameras, tablets, mobile phones and portable store devices.

He even set up chat rooms with ‘numerous participants’, in which graphic conversations about child abuse took place.

Shaw went under the guise of a variety of nicknames, including “the paedo master trainer”, while another referred to his interest in ‘nepiophilia’.

Mr Heyhoe added: “His main obsession was with babies rather than older children.

“He was asked by the users if he felt guilty and he described it as a chemical urge men have, its nature’s way.”

Shaw admitted having made 3,114 category A indecent images of children between January 1, 2013 and July 29, 2019; 1,729 category B images; 2,251 category C images; 105 prohibited images of children and 98 extreme pornographic images involving people and animals.

He admitted distributing five category A, five category B and two category C indecent images of children between the same dates.

He also pleaded guilty to breaching the sexual offences prevention order by having equipment for recording images and making photographic images of children under 16.

Sentencing Shaw, Judge Graeme Smith said:

“I have many times described it as an epidemic of child pornography in our society. I have to say, in the five years I have spent sitting in this position, this is one of the worst cases I have seen.