A CONVICTED paedophile banned from having secret phones and electronic devices groaned, “I’m f***d now” when police recovered an Amazon fire stick from under his bed.

Officers had called at Ian Hobley’s Wirral home to check on him following his previous convictions for child porn offences and discovered his illegal activities.

As well as having almost 2,000 indecent and prohibited child abuse images, including videos, Hobley had a number of electronic devices, some of which he is banned from having under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

A judge at Liverpool Crown Court said that Hobley was “evasive, cagey and obstructive” when quizzed about what items he had in his home.

A search on October 6 found a number of devices, including a Nokia Lumia phone, which was only located after officers found the box it had been in, and when his bedroom was searched, an Amazon fire stick was found under his bed.

Chris Hopkins, prosecuting, said that Hobley had been convicted in 2003 and 2008 of indecent image offences and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed restricting his use of such devices.

Hobley, of Town Lane, Bebington, applied in June to have the SHPO lifted but this was refused and the order renewed.

Judge Denis Watson, KC, said that within three months of the order being renewed Hobley was found with the images and devices and he came out with various excuses about why he had them.

The indecent images, in all categories of seriousness, were found on the Nokia and firestick. He had deleted his internet history on another device which was against the terms of the SHPO, he said.

The images found included children as young as three years old and there were also 240 computer generated images.

Hobley was jailed for two years and the judge imposed a ten year SHPO and ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for the same length of time.

He had admitted 11 offences involving making indecent images, possessing prohibited images and three offences of breaching the SPHO. They involved failing to register his electronic devices with the police, failing to make them available for inspection and deleting his internet history.

Michael Scholes, defending, said that Hobley, 55, had had periods of time when he had avoided the temptation of looking at such images.

Mr Scholes said that he had previously found solace in licensed employment but when his convictions came to light despite having worked perfectly well he lost his job.

“He is regarded as a pariah in the area where he lives and he found solace in the material," added Mr Scholes. 

Detective Inspector Steven O’Neill said: “Hobley was arrested after officers on a routine home visit as part of his SHPO found an electronic device that he hadn’t registered with us. This led to the sickening discovery of explicit sexual images of children.

“Hobley pleaded guilty to the offences because the evidence was so strong against him.

“Officers working in the Sex Offender Unit regularly conduct visits each month to ensure that offenders on the Sexual Offenders Register living in the community are closely monitored.

“Officers also work closely with partners in probation and housing to ensure that the public are protected and risk of further offending is minimised.”