A 56-year-old paedophile who distributed child abuse images despite already being a registered sex offender is now behind bars.

Harry Kirkwood, of Bedford Road in Letchworth, failed to notify police of a change of address or his acquisition of a laptop with internet access – and shared the indecent photographs of children online for almost a year.

Passing sentence at St Albans Crown Court yesterday, Judge Philip Grey handed Kirkwood a 44-month jail term.

Speaking to the Comet after the sentencing, an NSPCC spokesman said: “The abhorrent trade in these sickening images is fuelled by despicable sex offenders like Kirkwood, who show no regard for the victims of the abuse carried out to create them.

“It’s vital he undertakes treatment in prison to lessen the risk of further offending, while government, social media companies and service providers must commit all the resources they can to prevent indecent images being distributed online.”

Kirkwood admitted the charges before Hatfield magistrates in June. He pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing indecent photographs of children, breaching the Sex Offenders Act by failing to notify police of his change of address, and breaching a sexual harm prevention order imposed in 2015 by failing to register his laptop with police.