A PERSISTENT paedophile who played “cat and mouse” with the police and the courts for almost a decade has been locked up for more than three years.

Neil Jackson, 47, repeatedly breached orders designed to keep children safe from his perverted sexual offending, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Jackson, of Kelvin House, Danecourt Road, Holme Wood, Bradford, lied to hide his “repugnant and reprehensible” interest in young boys, hiding his phone containing indecent images when the police arrived to search his home.

Prosecutor Clare Walsh said on Tuesday that Jackson was cautioned in 2010 for possession of an indecent image of a child.

In July, 2012, he was jailed for three years for 18 offences relating to similar perverted photos. An indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) was made, which he breached the following year, receiving a three-month sentence of imprisonment.

In 2015, Jackson received a suspended jail sentence for failing to comply with the requirements of the sex offender register. In 2017, he breached the SOPO again and last year he again failed to comply with the sex offender notification requirements.

The court heard that the police searched Jackson’s flat on March 20 this year and found that he had a credit card and a phone he had not told the police about.

He tried to hide the phone under the sofa and then said there was nothing incriminating on it.

When it was analysed, it was found to have one Category A indecent image of a child on it, a Category B film clip and 120 Category C images.

Mrs Walsh said the pictures were of boys aged 10 to 15 engaged in sexual activity.

Jackson denied any perverted interest in children when he was interviewed by the police but conceded that he needed help.

He pleaded guilty to possession of the indecent images and breach of the SOPO.

His solicitor advocate, Ashok Khullar, said Jackson knew that prison was inevitable. He wanted help to end his offending and he would attend all the courses on offer in jail.

Judge Jonathan Rose jailed Jackson for three years and two months.

“You are afflicted with a sexual interest in children that is repugnant and reprehensible,” he said.

Jackson continued to seek out perverted material instead of going to one of the voluntary organisations that could have helped him.

He had been offending for almost ten years, “playing a cat and mouse game with the courts and the police.”

He had a credit card so he could pay for the illegal material and an unauthorised phone to download the “sick and perverted” images for his sexual gratification.

Jackson was jailed for 28 months for possession of the indecent images and ten months to run consecutively for breach of the SOPO.