A MAN with thousands of indecent images of children at his home swapped sick pictures "so he had people to talk to", a court heard.

Bank worker Darren Hawkins had more than 7,000 electronic images on his home PC and on a laptop computer. They showed children being abused.

When police raided his house officers also found seven CDs with a further 11,884 images on them and floppy disks with 2,798 more.

The court heard the 38-year-old built up sick fantasies in which he told his paedophile friends via email what he wanted to do to young children.

Prosecutor Peter Coombe told Oxford Crown Court the images ranged from babies as young as one month up to children aged 15 years.

He told Judge Tom Corrie the defendant had more than 400 images of category five - the most explicit.

Hawkins was caught when one of his like-minded correspondents was found by police, who traced him through his emails.

After his home in Broome Way, Banbury, was raided on July 21 last year, the defendant attempted suicide on two separate occasions.

The court heard how he had also been shunned by his family following the revelations of his hidden life.

He later admitted two counts of possession of indecent images of children, seven of distributing indecent images of children, 15 of incitement to distribute indecent images of children and two of making indecent images of children.

Judge Tom Corrie sentenced Hawkins to 21 months behind bars and ordered him to be placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for ten years.

For 16 years he was a regular contributor to Radio Horton at Banbury's Horton Hospital.

Before he was charged, he was working for LloydsTSB, but he lost his job in November.

Defending, Tony McGeorge, said: "The defendant is a very sad and lonely man who has few friends.

"His motivation was not to see and use the images of the children, but to have some people to talk to so he posed as having an appetite for this sort of activity.

"He is not a man who is any risk to children."

Judge Corrie, sitting at Oxford Crown Court, viewed some of the images, which he described as "revolting."

He told Hawkins: "I accept that you were not in the usual business of creating the images - that is to say the mischief that you indulged in was in your sexual fantasy, knowing children were exploited and had suffered.

"What particularly stood out, as so often in these cases, is that many of the children appeared in bondage gear and were obviously distressed and I cannot overlook the aggravating features.

"Your mitigation is that you are of good character and you are not thought to be of any risk to children who may come into contact with you.

"You have been described as a loner who used this for social contact, as a means to interact with other people.

"There is no doubt you indulged your sexual fantasies in a way which it seems exploited vulnerable children."