Two Sussex men have admitted being part of an international paedophile gang which spread images of child abuse over the internet.

They are among seven men who have pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute indecent images of children.

Computer consultant Ian Baldock, 31, from Upper Maze Hill, St Leonards, Hastings, and jobless David Hines, 30, from Chichester Road, Bognor, will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on February 12 and 13.

The case was brought after detectives from the National Crime Squad raided 15 addresses nationwide as part of Operation Cathedral in September 1998.

They arrested 12 men in England and one in Scotland, while simultaneous raids were mounted by police in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and the USA.

A horrifying library of 750,000 images was uncovered contained on computers, videos and other media in addition to 1,800 computerised videos depicting children suffering sexual abuse.

It is said the gang circulated thousands of paedophile images on encoded web sites.

The others who face sentencing next month are Antoni Skinner, 36, a computer consultant from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire; Ahmed Ali, 30, a taxi driver from Tulse Hill, London; unemployed Andrew Barlow, 25, from Bletchley, Bucks; Frederick Stephens, 46, a taxi driver from Hayes, Middlesex; and Gavin Seagers, 29, of Dartford, Kent.

An eighth man, computer salesman Steven Ellis from Earlham in Norfolk, was charged but committed suicide in January 1999.

David Chaiken, a computer consultant from Maidenhead, Berks, was charged separately with possession and distribution of indecent images of children.

He was jailed for eight months at Reading Crown Court in June 1999. He was also ordered to be placed on the sex offenders register for ten years.

Cases against three other people arrested by the NCS have not been proceeded with.