A pervert who lied to his family about going to Thailand to cover up child pornography convictions was told by a judge that his activities helped in the ex-ploitation of children.

Mark Doogue, aged 47 and originally from Worsley, told friends and colleagues he was going to work as a chef in Phuket when he was in fact being held in prison awaiting sentence.

His family only found out about the convictions when they feared he had died in the Asian tsunami disaster and issued an appeal for information.

Days later it emerged that Doogue, currently of no fixed abode, had been in jail in the UK since pleading guilty to the child porn offences on December 1, and was nowhere near Phuket when it was swamped by giant waves on Boxing Day.

The father-of-two had admitted the possession of 137 pornographic pictures and videos of children.

The images involved children aged eight to their early teens and ranged from level one - the lowest level - to level five - the most serious - Bolton Crown Court heard on Friday.

Doogue also pleaded guilty to distributing an indecent photograph of a child and failing to surrender to bail.

Adjourning sentencing until next Friday, Judge Charles Bloom QC said Doogue was guilty of "very serious offences".

He said: "The images involved the exploitation and degradation of children which causes them long-term damage and harm.

"If it wasn't for the willing market provided by people like yourself, this exploitation would not be to the extent that it is."