A Douglas man has been remanded in custody after being charged with six counts of possessing indecent images of children.

He cannot be named, unless convicted, due to anonymity laws introduced by the Manx Government last year to protect the identity of individuals accused of certain offences prior to conviction.

Prosecuting advocate Kate Alexander told magistrates that a number of electronic devices had been seized by officers from the Isle of Man Constabulary during a search of the man’s home.

The current charges were described as likely to be holding charges, based on material allegedly discovered so far.

It is alleged that one image has been found in each of the five categories of the Copine scale, which is used to classify the severity of indecent images from level one to five, with five being the most extreme.

A moving image in category four is also alleged to have been recovered.

Ms Alexander said police were continuing to analyse approximately 36 terabytes of data retrieved from the seized devices. She added that the process was expected to take until mid-April to complete, due to the sheer volume of material involved.

The defendant was represented in court by defence advocate Stephen Wood, who made an application for bail. Mr Wood argued that it could be some time before the investigation progresses and suggested that appropriate bail conditions could be imposed to mitigate any concerns.

However, Ms Alexander opposed the application, telling the court that the crown alleges some of the images depict the extreme abuse of children.

Magistrates refused bail and remanded the defendant at the Isle of Man Prison in Jurby.

He is due to appear in court again at a later date, when it is hoped an update will be available regarding the ongoing police investigation.