A CONVICTED sex offender from Burnley who tried to hide a laptop with child porn images on it when detectives came to check up on him has been jailed for two years.

Martin Calvert, 33, had previously served a custodial sentence for indecent assault and the possession of 672 indecent pictures of youngsters, but had managed to secrete a laptop, which he retrieved when he was released from prison, Burnley Crown Court was told.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, said that detectives turned up at Calvert's then-home and immediately noted that he was acting suspiciously, leaving them at the door while he was upstairs.

The officers followed him to his bedroom and found a laptop hidden under a duvet. He soon confessed that he had been using the computer to search for indecent images of children.

Mr Parker said: "He became visibly upset and said that he needed help."

Calvert, formerly of Mary Street, but now of no fixed address, admitted to three offences of possession of indecent images. He had previously been recalled to prison for breaking the terms of a sexual offences prevention order, simply by having the laptop.

The court heard that the search terms used by Calvert online included 'cute teen lovers', 'little kids skinny dipping' and 'kids shower time'.

An interrogation of his computer by the police's hi-tech crime unit had found that 68 were at the most serious level of harm, 159 at an intermediate stage, and 1,235 pictures at the least serious rating.

Richard Taylor, defending, said there had been no assistance for his client when he was jailed on the last occasion, and he had even requested a transfer to a prison which ran a sex offenders' programme.

"His instructions are that he needs help. It is not simply about his sexual predilections but his drug usage, his isolation, depression and anxiety problems," said Mr Taylor.

Passing sentence, Recorder Andrew Long, who imposed a sexual harm prevention order on Calvert for an indefinite period, said the defendant had been 'persistently' looking for indecent images of children and recognised he had a problem.