A CONVICTED paedophile wept as he was jailed for downloading indecent images of young children being sexually abused.

David Powell sobbed as he was led down into the cells at Worcester Crown Court on Friday as he prepares to begin a 16 month prison sentence.

The 46-year-old of Albert Park Road, Malvern, had previously admitted three counts of making indecent images of children and one of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Charles Hamer, prosecuting, said Powell admitted the offences on Tuesday,February 14 at magistrates court following his arrest at his home on August 14 last year.

Information came to the police that an indecent image had been uploaded via a Kik account, described by Mr Hamer as a file sharing platform.

As a result police attended Powell's home address in Malvern. A laptop, tablet and mobile phone were seized.

The images were believed to have been downloaded over two years though no precise dates were made available to the court. He had the laptop for three to four years.

Mr Hamer said: "The defendant was interviewed, denying any wrongdoing, any downloading or any involvement with indecent images of children whatsoever. He later said he had lied in his first interview."

In total he had downloaded 137 category A images, the worst level.

There were 102 images at category B and 219 at category C, all of which were found to be inaccessible.

Images were found on a laptop also used by his partner and the account was named 'Brian Adams', spelled incorrectly, which Powell had used to avoid being traced, the court was told.

He had shared some of the indecent images of children yet was not charged with distribution.

Nevertheless, prosecution argued this was an aggravating feature of the case.

Mr Hamer added: "An aggravating feature is the age and vulnerability of the children.

Also aggravating the case were Powell's four previous convictions for five offences, including indecent exposure and breach of a sexual offender order.

He was jailed for two years for two indecent assaults on an eight-year-old girl on August 25, 2000.

Mark Sheward, defending, said there had been no further offending until these matters following his release from prison for the indecent assault.

"He found it difficult to understand why he had acted as he had. He would very much like to know why" said Mr Sheward.

Powell has made contact himself with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a registered child protection charity which works across the UK to prevent child sexual abuse.

Mr Sheward added: "He's anxious to understand his compulsion. He tells me he wants to change. Hopefully he can."

Powell's partner of 10 years had attended court to support him Mr Sheward said.

Judge Robert Juckes QC, sentencing Powell, said of the indecent images: "This is the most extreme end of child pornography. The worst, and what I suspect the public find most offensive and disgusting.

"They come right at the top end of the category and there are a number of images of that kind.

"I have to deal with you on the basis you did share these images. You're not charged with distribution but it is part of what you admit. It increases the seriousness.

"It does seem to be an aggravating feature within that category that your particular habit had got to the point which required images to be provided to others. These were the worst kind of images."

Judge Juckes jailed him for 16 months for the category A images, 12 months concurrent for the category B images, six months concurrent for the category C images and six months concurrent for the prohibited image.

The total sentence was 16 months.

A sexual harm prevention order was also made and a forfeiture and destruction order will result in the destruction of the devices on which the images had been stored.