Paedophile had so many child abuse pictures he created a filing system.

A prolific paedophile, Andrew Mullen, 68, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for possessing a vast collection of child abuse images and videos.

Mullen, who previously served a sentence for similar offenses, was found to have a sophisticated filing system for his collection, which included 875 Category A images and videos, 483 Category B, and 5,465 Category C. Some of the material showed children as young as two or three being raped and abused.

The National Crime Agency received a referral from their counterparts in New England, alerting them to accounts being used on an encrypted cloud platform linked to Mullen. When police raided his home, Mullen initially denied any wrongdoing, claiming he had been hacked.

However, officers found evidence that Mullen had been actively using the accounts to store and access child abuse material. The images and videos were categorized under different titles, making it easy for him to find what he wanted.

In court, Mullen's defense attorney argued that his client had served in the Navy for 32 years and worked in charity and theatre after his military service. He also noted that Mullen has a 38-year-old son with cerebral palsy who is in residential care and that Mullen himself has health problems.

Despite these mitigating factors, Judge Simon Carr found that Mullen's previous offending and his elaborate filing system demonstrated a "entrenched sexual interest in children." He sentenced Mullen to 15 months in prison, stating that the treatment Mullen had previously undergone had "failed to stop his entrenched sexual interest in children."