A NORTH Somerset man found with indecent images and video clips of children taken secretly in public places said 'he would hang himself if he was a paedophile'

A NORTH Somerset man found with indecent images and video clips of children taken secretly in public places said 'he would hang himself if he was a paedophile'.Simon Smith, aged 25, also had 'disturbing' diary reminders on his phone to 'get an underage school girl for f******, aged eightish in a school uniform.'Police also discovered video clips of young children Smith had taken in public and at his Clevedon workplace and an indecent image of a girl aged eight, lying on her bed partly naked, which had been sent to other phones six times.Smith, appearing at North Somerset Courthouse in St Georges, pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing indecent images of children between December 2005 and July 2006 and seven charges of distributing indecent images between December 2005 and March 2006 on February 16.Richard Levene, prosecuting, told magistrates Smith had told the police he was tricking paedophiles into trusting him, by sending out the images, and was planning to hand the information to the police.Smith has been living at Bristol Backpackers in St Stephen Street, Bristol, since he was charged with the offences in January. Previously he lived in North Somerset, but the police have refused to confirm where.The court heard how he had been working at Focus in Clevedon when a number of staff became concerned about his behaviour towards young children.Smith had four mobile phones and when he left one at work the store manager examined its contents and found a video clip entitled 'fit schoolies.' Staff then called the police.When the phones were examined, police found diary reminders such as 'get an underage school girl to strip' along with indecent images and videos of children.Mr Levene said: "When questioned he said he was responsible for the content of all four phones. He said he'd never asked for the girls' consent. He said he received no sexual gratification from the images and told them he wasn't into girls. He said if he was a paedophile he'd hang himself."He said it was a ruse to trick paedophiles into trusting him. Once he knew where they lived he was going to give all this information to the police."Chairman of the bench, Ken Freeman, ordered a pre-sentence report.He said: "We are going to keep all our options open. That means custody is definitely on the cards and if we feel after reading the report we don't have sufficient powers we can send you to Bristol Crown Court for sentencing."Smith was released on bail with the conditions that he must report to the police and must not hold anything capable of storing or making videos. Smith is due back at North Somerset Courthouse on March 13.