Paedophile found with computer and kids' underwear

David McKay had a history of child sex offences

A convicted paedophile who was caught with an unregistered computer and stash of children's underwear has been jailed for a year.

David McKay, 73, was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order in 2012 after being convicted of multiple indecent images of children offences in Durham, Teesside Crown Court heard.

As part of that order, he had to give the police details of any internet-enabled devices within three days of getting them, but officers found a desktop computer he had not told them about when they visited his home on 8 April.

McKay, from Stockton, had denied breaching the order but was found guilty by magistrates.

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He was jailed for two years at Durham Crown Court for 16 counts of making indecent images of children, four of taking such images and seven counts of voyeurism in September 2012, prosecutors said.

A sexual harm prevention order was made to last indefinitely, the court heard.

He had twice been jailed for breaching the order, the court heard, with officers previously finding an unregistered mobile phone, a laptop hidden beneath a bed and a stash of school skirts, the court heard.

In 2018, McKay was convicted of possessing indecent images of children and a "paedophile manual", Judge Deborah Sherwin said.

'Persistent child attraction'

On 8 April, police attended his home for a routine review and found the desktop, which he said he had bought three weeks earlier, the court heard.

They also found seven pairs of underwear for children aged 10 to 11 and a red notepad in which McKay had written stories about sexually abusing children, the court heard.

He told the police he wore the underwear "for comfort" and wrote the stories as a way of managing his sexual interests, the court heard.

Judge Sherwin said McKay posed a "high risk of serious harm" to children and it was "quite clear" his attraction to them persisted.

She dismissed his claims he bought the underwear for himself, adding the garments were too small for him to fit into.

The judge said there was "some force" to McKay's suggestion he was "giving vent to [his] urges" by writing stories rather than downloading more illegal materials, but there was a "real danger" he could get images with the computer he had failed to register with police.