Latest Offenders Hertfordshire

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A senior Hertfordshire politician, who held a role overseeing children's services, has been jailed after being found in possession of more than 400,000 indecent images of children. Stephen Holmes, 61, was sentenced to 10 months in custody at St Albans Crown Court today after admitting 23 counts of possessing indecent images and videos including thousands at level five, the most serious abuse. The massive cache of images was accumulated over a period of 12 years by Holmes, who resigned as deputy portfolio holder for childrens services at Hertfordshire county council and as a Dacorum borough councillor following his arrest. Harry Bentley, for Holmes, told the court his client had never sought to abuse his position or gain access to children. He said: "This is a man with a problem, not a persistent sex offender. "A somewhat pathetic individual locking himself in a room on his own." The images were discovered on computer equipment in his Woodhall Farm home in May by police investigating online activity. The politician, who was also a Dacorum Borough Councillor in Hemel Hempstead and the former mayor of the borough. Holmes, of Dickens Court, Hemel Hempstead was also handed an indefinite sex offenders prevention order limiting his internet access by Judge John Plumstead.

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A nappy-wearing paedophile from Kings Langley has today been jailed indefinitely.

Former Oxford University scientist Andrew Lintern, 55, of Five Acres, filmed himself sexually abusing a 17-month old baby and collected 20,000 images of children described as ‘disturbing in the extreme’.

At London Southwark Crown Court Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC described some of the images recovered from his library as being of the 'most disgusting, indeed horrific kind, representing a truly awful catalogue of offending against young children'.

Handing the pervert an indeterminate sentence for public protection, Judge Rivlin said: “Taken all in all, the charges you have pleaded guilty to amount to such a great catalogue of offences involving child abuse that it is difficult to grasp the scale of your offending.

“It is just as difficult to grasp what has promoted a man like yourself to become so steeped in activities that involve the sexual exploitation of children and the literally immeasurable harm that was done to them.”

He added: “The 26 counts relate to pornographic images which you either made, or downloaded or distributed and in total amounted to a staggering number of indecent images of children, both still photographs and movies, many of them portraying the most appalling abuse of small children.'

The research chemist, who had an 'obsession with the systematic sexual abuse of children', bought himself a pack of nappies which he admitted to wearing, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Lintern, who has been married for 24 years, was found with nearly 20,000 images of children aged between five and ten stashed around his Kings Langley home. Three of the images showed Lintern abusing a toddler back in 2002.

Of the sex assault on the baby, Judge Rivlin said: “Following your arrest you confessed these crimes to the police, but apart from being evidence of what you were capable of doing to a young child they also amounted to a gross breach of trust.”

Referring to a probation report assessing Lintern's dangerousness, Judge Rivlin read: “I consider he is entrenched in his sexual offending and the risk he poses will not diminish easily.”

Ravi Dogra, defending, had accepted Lintern needed treatment.

He said: 'This man who once had a bright career an undergraduate of Oxford has lost everything as a result of his habits.'

The pedophile will serve a minimum of three and a half years before a parole board consider his suitability for release.

Judge Rivlin also ordered Lintern to enrol on a sex offender treatment programme while in jail.

Lintern was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

DS Jason Tunn, of the Metropolitan Paedophile Unit said: “The court has recognised, along with the probation service and a defence psychologist that Andrew Lintern continues to pose a serious and real risk to children.

“The sentence imposed reflects that view that he is a dangerous sexual predator.”