A disabled artist who downloaded almost 1,400 child abuse images also created his own sexually-explicit drawings of Peppa Pig.

The hand-drawn sketches by sex offender John Boswell showed the popular children's character with genitals, and were among several similarly depraved cartoon drawings discovered at his home in Maidstone.

The many other illegal images found in his possession had been stored on phones he had tried to hide from police.

Some were of pictures where youngsters had been superimposed but the bulk depicted real abuse and on victims aged between three and eight, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

At the time the sexualised Peppa Pig drawings were discovered in May this year, the 77-year-old, who relies on a wheelchair and walking frame, had appeared in court just a month earlier charged with offences dating back to 2017.

Two years prior to that he had been convicted at Snaresbrook Crown Court of possessing indecent images of children, and his sentence included a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in respect of his use of digital devices.

It was not until July 2019 however that the self-confessed paedophile was discovered to have not given up his deviant ways.

‘These were hand-drawn images he had produced himself…’

Officers monitoring his behaviour paid an unannounced visit to his home and when they asked Boswell to hand devices over for examination, he lied that he could not find his phone.

He then attempted to not only wipe its internet history but also hide it in his toilet, said prosecutor Nathalie Carter at his sentencing hearing on Thursday, September 12 for a total of 13 offences.

When analysed, police found 1,190 indecent photographs of children, depicting abuse across all three categorisation levels. There were also the nine prohibited, superimposed images.

Boswell was arrested and interviewed, and candidly revealed that during two similar checks by police in October and November 2017 he had failed to hand over his phone in breach of the SHPO.

But the court heard despite Boswell's revelations and frank confession that he "couldn't help himself", he was simply released under investigation and not charged until March this year.

In respect of no action being taken in 2017, Ms Carter said: "I can only assume the officers gave him a warning or accepted his half-hearted answers that he wasn't offending."

When asked by the judge why there had then been a five-year gap in reaching the court, Ms Carter said the "horrendous delay" was due to the sheer volume of such cases and the need to analyse phone data.

But, even after appearing before magistrates in April this year and being released on bail, Boswell continued with his depravity and, during the further unannounced police visit this year, his Peppa Pig drawings were discovered.

"These were hand-drawn images he had produced himself. I understand he is quite an artist and when challenged he said 'They are copies of images I have on my phone'," explained Ms Carter.

On that occasion, Boswell again tried to hide a phone on which police later found a further 204 child abuse images, the majority in the highest category and again showing young females.

‘He is an artist and painter and now, at the age of 77… he draws and paints, and that includes images of children and inappropriate images…’

He also failed to hand over a second phone and two digital cameras. However, those did not reveal any further illegal material.

Boswell, of Union Street, subsequently admitted eight breaches of a SHPO, three of possessing indecent images of children and two of possessing prohibited images between 2017 and 2024.

He also asked for three further charges relating to the images found following his arrest in May to be taken into consideration.

John FitzGerald, defending, said the pensioner had acknowledged his "problems" before police had even formally questioned him.

The lawyer also said the delay in charging after his arrest in 2019 was "substantial, astonishing and exceptional", and without any apparent reason.

‘Some included the cartoon character Peppa Pig with genitals drawn on and the like…’

But it was accepted that an aggravating factor of the case was that thereafter Boswell ignored the fact he was on court bail and went on to reoffend.

Explaining the pictures the pensioner created himself, Mr FitzGerald told the court: "He is an artist and painter and now, at the age of 77, with no real family, no contacts, living in retirement accommodation and with a carer who visits him, he draws and paints, and that includes images of children and inappropriate images.

"Some included the cartoon character Peppa Pig with genitals drawn on and the like."

The court heard Boswell had been in custody since May, where his mobility was said to be severely restricted.

But in stating a sentence of imprisonment was inevitable, Recorder Matthew McDonagh said any attempts in the past to assist the sex offender with his "illness" had not succeeded, and it was "concerning" that he had continued to offend while on bail.

Jailing Boswell for three years, he remarked: "Whatever steps were taken to deal with the difficulties you had and vulnerabilities to that type of offending, they were unsuccessful.

"It's to your credit that when these matters were discovered you made full admissions quite candidly to police.

"You talked about the illness that you had, your particular interest in this type of activity and why you were doing it."

Referring to the offences in May, the judge concluded: "The concern here is that you had been recently charged.

"You well knew at that stage that what you were doing was wrong and yet continued to do so and sought to evade detection when police attended your home."

Boswell will continue to be subject to a SHPO and sex offender notification requirements on his release.