AN OFF-DUTY police officer snared a convicted paedophile who had flouted sex-offender regulations by fleeing West Yorkshire for London, a court heard.

And when officers examined Michael McAuliffe’s mobile phones, they found thousands of indecent child images of children as young as 18 months old.

McAuliffe also distributed child porn to other paedophiles, Bradford Crown Court heard. Hundreds of the images were videos, and some showed children who had suffered physical abuse.

Jailing 50-year-old McAuliffe for three years and eight months, Judge Jonathan Rose said the images found on the defendant’s phone portrayed a man with a perverted paedophilic sexuality, who had a depraved sexual interest in boys aged seven to 12.

McAuliffe had more than 5,000 images and 600 movies on his phone, including 24 at the highest level of seriousness.

He had also distributed more than 2,300 images and videos, and was part of the “wicked circle of evil individuals” involved in child porn.

Judge Rose added: “It’s quite horrifying that any human being would think it appropriate to create an image of small children as young as 18 months being sexually defiled, and yet you did.”

Prosecutor, Paul Nicholson, said McAuliffe had been given a six-month prison sentence in 2006 for 20 offences of possessing indecent photos of children and ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years. He was given a suspended jail sentence the following year for making indecent photos of children.

Officers went to McAuliffe’s registered home in Clarendon Street, Haworth, in November and seized two mobile phones from an attic bedroom. The following day he moved out and sent a Christmas card to his uncle, indicating he had moved to Denmark.

In March this year, one of the officers that had visited McAuliffe’s home, Detective Sergeant Linda Christie, was enjoying a break in London when she saw the defendant handing out business leaflets in Leicester Square, and arrangements were made for him to be arrested.

McAuliffe pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching his notification provisions, 17 of making indecent photographs of children and four of distributing them. His barrister, James Bourne-Arton, said his client had suffered traumatic abuse as a child, which had affected his life.

Judge Rose subjected McAuliffe to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order without limit of time, and ordered him to register as a sex offender for life.

After the case, Detective Inspector Vanessa Smith, of the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit, said: “McAuliffe refused to comply with the terms of his registration as a sex offender. We are pleased the courts have recognised the seriousness of his offences.

“West Yorkshire Police is committed to making sure registered sex offenders are managed robustly, and will seek to use whatever legislation is necessary to bring them to justice.”