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A 55-year-old woman who encouraged a man to send her indecent photos of children has avoided jail.

Christine Malone, of Green Road in Conlig, also admitted possessing indecent images.

The judge said she "engaged in highly sexualised and vile discussions" about the sexual abuse of children, some as young as three years old.

She received a three-year probation order for the offences, which took place between May and August 2014.

She will also be placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, heard none of the images Malone possessed were of children she knew or had contact with.

Malone and the man engaged in online discussions about child abuse and how they would harm children.

The man, originally from Lurgan, is also the subject of a police investigation.

However, he has since fled Northern Ireland to live in the Netherlands, and extradition proceedings may be launched.

The court heard Malone asked the man to send her videos and images of children and adults that were pornographic in nature.

Judge Geoffrey Miller described the conversations between the pair as "graphic in the extreme".

He added that they gave rise to the "deepest possible concerns of appalling, distorted and reprehensible paedophilic thinking".

Malone, who is a grandmother, was arrested in March 2017 after the offences first emerged and social services became involved shortly after.

The investigation found none of her children or grandchildren had been sexually abused by her.

During questioning, she told police she had an interest in online porn and initially denied knowing the Lurgan man and the discussions of child sexual abuse.

She said she could not recall if she had received any images of children.

Malone said she helped to look after her two grandchildren, but later admitted: "I actually hate kids and don't know why I had them myself."

She later pleaded guilty to encouraging or assisting an offence to be committed by asking the man to send her images between 26 May and 23 August 2014.

Malone additionally admitted to six separate charges of possessing indecent images on 17 July 2014.

At the sentencing on Friday, the judge said he had considered Malone's defence submission, which alluded to her unsettled childhood and her remorse over her behaviour.

The judge also said he noted Malone's "lonely and isolated life" and a lack of offences both before or after 2017.

"It is apparent that at the relevant time she was living in a highly sexualised world, making a living as a sex worker and selling photos of herself," he said.

He described the online discussions as "utterly reprehensible", and they "represented fantasy" on the defence's part.

Malone was given a three-year probation order and was warned failure to comply would result in the "real prospect" of a prison sentence.