A FORMER Lake District pub landlord who downloaded "utterly repellent" indecent images of children has been jailed for a year.
Christopher George Helman, 42, was caught out after Cumbria police were tipped off by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection unit.
A computer IP address linked to illegal images was traced to the Old John Peel Inn, Bowness. Carlisle Crown Court heard Helman was the registered landlord of the premises at that time.
A total of 1,270 prohibited pictures were found on two hard drives. Almost half were still and moving images classed in category A - the most serious. "Many" of the youngsters featured, the court heard, were "mere infants".
Helman, of Crook, near Kendal. was sentenced today having admitted three charges of making - and one of possessing - indecent photographs of children.
A man of previous good character, he was jailed by Judge James Adkin, who described the images as "utterly repellent", "shocking and revolting".
"This is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified," Judge Adkin told Helman. "It is a bad example of this sort of offending."
Helman must also sign the sex offenders' register for a decade, and abide by the strict terms of a sexual harm prevention order.
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