A married former military man addicted to child pornography has been jailed for downloading more than 1,000 indecent images of minors and using ‘wiping’ software in a bid to hide them.

Francis Mingay, 65, from Ripon, was under a court order at the time designed to curb his internet activities following previous convictions for similar behaviour, York Crown Court heard.

But the ex-army man - who served in Ireland and overseas during a distinguished career - downloaded 1,074 illicit photos and videos, some involving the serious sexual abuse of children and one depicting the rape of a young girl, said prosecutor Thomas Parsons. 

Mingay, of Southgate Avenue, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, two breaches of a sexual-harm prevention order (SHPO) and one count of possessing indecent images. He appeared for sentence on Thursday.

The original sexual-harm order was imposed in 2011 after Mingay was convicted of 10 offences including eight counts of possessing indecent images.

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The order prohibited him from deleting his internet search history, using ‘wiping’ software or obtaining any new internet-enabled devices without informing the police. 

He was also banned from visiting any internet forums or chatrooms that might give him access to illegal images of minors.

In June 2019, two police officers who were monitoring him post-sentence made a routine visit to his home to inspect his devices and found he had been using a new Samsung phone. 

They also found a memory stick and a laptop with wiping software for deleting files and search history.

Both devices contained debauched images of children, as well as “extreme” pornography and “prohibited” photos and videos of youngsters.

Mr Parsons said the children depicted in the images on the laptop were between six and 12 years old. The worst images, rated Category A, included one which showed a girl of about 10 years of age being raped.

Mingay had downloaded 103 Category A images, 87 Category B and 884 Category C. He also admitted possessing a further 99 indecent images on the USB memory stick.

He already had three convictions for 27 offences, all of a similar nature. In 2003, he was given a three-year community order at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court for a “large number” of downloading and possession offences and ordered to attend various rehabilitation courses to “cure him of this perverted addiction”.

But it had little effect and in November 2011, Mingay was convicted of eight counts of possessing indecent images of children, for which he received a 12-month suspended prison sentence and a SHPO to regulate his internet use.

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Michele Turner, for Mingay, said the ex-military man had lost his way since the end of his “very successful” army career and had developed mental health problems due to “horrific” combat stress.

She said Mingay “didn’t understand” his addiction to child pornography “and his family doesn’t understand”.

Recorder Anthony Hawks told Mingay: