A carer who used WhatsApp to share extreme films of a woman having sex with a snake, a horse and a dog is facing jail.

Tracey Haigan, 52, kept a collection of nine extreme pornographic movies on her two mobile phones while working at Mulberry Lodge Day and Care Centre in Barkingside.

She was arrested in June 2013 after a colleague spotted her and two other carers watching one of the movies in the staff kitchen.

Haigan appeared “intrigued and shocked” rather than disgusted by the movie, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

A search revealed the films were sent to Haigan via WhatsApp before she forwarded them on to friends.

The clips included a woman having intercourse with a snake, a woman having sex with a dog, a woman having sex with a horse and a woman having sex with a man while a baby was strapped to her back.

In an interview with police, Haigan said: “It didn’t occur to me to report the images, I had no idea it was illegal, I sent the images on.”

James Benson, prosecuting, told the court Haigan “had little experience of technology” and had only recently got the WhatsApp application.

Mr Benson added: “It would have been immediately apparent that the video contained extreme pornographic material but it’s not clear who she received the material from.”

Haigan, of Guinness Court, Mansell Street, Aldgate, who has no previous convictions, admitted one count of possession of extreme pornographic moving images.

The prosecution dropped a charge of showing an indecent image of a child and a further charge of possession of extreme pornographic still images.

Paula Cochrane, for Haigan, said she was suffering from depression and was due to have an MRI scan because of frequent numbness in her left arm.

Judge Patricia Lees adjourned sentencing until May 22, asking for written evidence from her doctor.

Haigan was granted conditional bail.