A Bordon man is to stand trial accused of making hundreds of indecent images of a child, possessing “extreme” pornographic images of a person having sex with animals and possessing Class A drugs.

Michael Rutland, 60, formerly of Horseshoe Crescent in Bordon, appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates Court on Wednesday, December 14 to answer five separate charges, including the possession of 208 of the most serious Category A indecent images of children.

He pleaded guilty to the offence of possessing 1.58 grams of Class A drug methyl-amphetamine on October 8, 2021, and was committed to Winchester Crown Court for sentencing on January 11, 2023.

But Mr Rutland did not enter a plea on the pornography charges and will appear at Winchester Crown Court on the same date for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

He will stand trial accused of:

* Making 234 Category A indecent images of a child comprising 208 still images and 26 moving images.

* Possessing five extreme pornographic images which portrayed, in an explicit and realistic way, a person performing  an act of intercourse with animals namely dogs and horses which were grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character and a reasonable person looking at the image would think that any such person or animal was real.

* Making 139 Category B indecent images of a child comprising 138 still images and 1 moving image. 

* Making 143 Category C still indecent images of a child.

All of the above offences are alleged to have taken place between November 10, 2018, and October 8, 2021, in Bordon.

Mr Rutland has been released on unconditional bail pending his appearance at Winchester Crown Court in January.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) categorises sexual image offences as follows:

Category A - Images involving penetrative sexual activity, sexual activity with an animal or sadism.

Category B - Images involving non-penetrative sexual activity.

Category C - Indecent images not falling within categories A or B.

The CPS definition of ‘making’ an indecent image is to cause an indecent image to exist, to produce an indecent image through action, or to ‘bring about’ an indecent image. 

This can include everything from forwarding an email of an indecent image to simply downloading a file onto a hard-drive.