Paedophile in Kettering claimed he accidentally downloaded 1,000 child abuse pictures

A paedophile living in Kettering was caught with more than 1,000 sick child abuse images - and tried to claim they were accidentally attached to games he had downloaded.

Mateusz Waliczk, 34, was arrested at his Havelock Street home in May 2017 and police seized a laptop and a portable drive.

On Wednesday (January 29) Northampton Crown Court heard detectives found 1,126 indecent files of child abuse on the devices, of which 207 were videos.

Some showed the abuse of infants and a total of 99 files were of the most depraved kind (category A) with 61 in category B and 966 in category C.

Waliczk later pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children - but not before he had tried to claim that he was downloading movies and games and that these images were attached to them.

Prosecutor Leanne Summers said: "At first he provided a written statement in which he said he had no sexual interest in children and had not looked at the images.

"He was interviewed further and in the second interview he maintained his denial and said he could not explain how these images had got on his devices."

The court heard he was still in denial but that he was ashamed and had "learned his lesson".

Waliczk, who moved to England from Poland 10 years ago, has been signed off from agency work since his guilty plea was reported in the media.

He faced the prospect of up to three years in prison - but judge Michael Fowler suspended his jail term.

Addressing Waliczk he said: "You were interviewed by the police and a probation officer and you suggested this is down to an accident. No it's not.

"You do not acquire these images by accident.

"Everybody else manages to use their computer without downloading something in the order of 1,000 images of children.

"That's because you have sought these images and downloaded them...you have got to approach the future with reality."

Waliczk was jailed for 12 months suspended for two years.

He must complete 120 hours of unpaid work and take part in rehabiltation activities.

He will also be the subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order, restricting his internet use, and be on the register for sex offenders for 10 years.