A POSTMAN who claimed he was trying to track down paedophiles by downloading 1,700 pornographic pictures of children has been jailed for two-and-a-half years at Worcester Crown Court.

After a trial of issue during which 39-year-old Wayne Gregory and his 28-year-old girlfriend gave evidence, Judge Alistair McCreath said his account was bizarre, incredible and untrue. Gregory, of Northwick House, Coopers Lane, Evesham, had pleaded guilty to 26 charges of possessing and distributing indecent images of children. The judge made an indefinite sexual offences prevention order forbidding Gregory from accessing websites containing images of children. He also ordered Gregory to register as a sex offender for life, disqaualified him from working with children forever and ordered him to notify police if ever he moved address.

Gregory, a man of no previous convictions, was arrested when police raided his flat on March 22, said Andrew Evans, prosecuting. They identified 1,700 images which had been downloaded.

Neil Williams, defending, said Gregory told police he had a legitimate reason for investigating pornography.

Gregory said his research had been sparked when he learned how a seven-year-old girl had been sexually abused but the culprit had never been prosecuted. By posing as a paedophile, he hoped to lure the abuser into the open by entering his profile on a website.

After six months, he came across someone who "fitted the bill" and sent the particulars to police in an anonymous letter. The following year, he sent another anonymous letter to police in Herefordshire.

But the judge said Gregory had used the material for his own sexual gratification and had committed a vile crime.