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A convicted Pudsey paedophile confessed to hiding indecent images of children on his computer after being threatened with a lie-detector test.

Neil Thompson, aged 58, was fearful of being caught out by the polygraph so told officers he had deleted his internet history, putting him in breach of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) he was handed for previous offences.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Thompson was convicted of four counts of possessing abuse images in 2016, for which he received a community order and the SHPO. Under the terms of the order, must allow officers to view his internet-savvy devices upon request.

In December 2021, he was given a caution for failing to disclose all of his devices, and was told he must undergo a polygraph test. He then confessed to deleting his search history.

Thompson was told he must undergo a polygraph test, so he quickly confessed. (Getty Images)

Officers then searched his home on Waterloo Mills in Pudsey and seized a laptop. On it they found 41 still images, most of which he had deleted, but were retrievable. It included 15 Category A images – the most serious – and 26 Category B and C, including children as young as five. They also found searches he had carried out and had installed “forensic tools” capable of deleting search history data, prosecutor Ayman Khokhar said.

Thompson gave a no-comment interview following his arrest but later admitted three counts of possessing indecent images and breaching his SHPO.

Mitigating, Eleanor Mitten said his best mitigation was his early plea. She said he lost his mother in 2020 during the pandemic and was unable to attend her funeral due to Covid restrictions.

She added: “He was drinking and spending a lot of time alone. He expressed an awareness that alcohol is a common theme for these type of offences, it leads to a lack of impulse control. He knows he has done wrong and has been upfront about it. In his own words, his life would not be worth living if he went to prison.”

Judge Ray Singh jailed him for 12 months, and said: “The court gave you an opportunity to behave yourself, you knew full well what you were prohibited from doing. You have an unhealthy sexual interest in children.” He gave Thompson a new 10-year SHPO.

Lie-detector test threat forces confession from Pudsey paedophile