A 68-year-old pensioner has been jailed at Worcester Crown Court after admitting having pornography and indecently assaulting a seven-year-old girl.

Malcolm Cox, of Wren Way, Farnborough, Hants, was alleged to have committed the offences during visits to Worcester last year.

Jailing him for three years, Judge Robert Juckes QC said the case was a classic example of depravity arising from this kind of interest.

Prosecutor Dean Kershaw said Cox was arrested after the girl complained to her mother of inappropriate touching she had been asked to keep secret.

Cox pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault and four of possessing indecent images of children.Examination of his computers and mobile phone revealed more than 1,420 pictures of children being abused, some as young as three and four.

Alistair Wright, mitigating, said Cox was of previous good character and had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

The judge ordered the destruction of the computer equipment and made a sexual harm prevention order to last indefinitely. Cox, who can be released after 18 months, must register as a sex offender for life.