A former bus driver and member of Willenhall Operatic Society had more than 3,000 “horrific” images of child abuse on his computer, a court heard.

Andrew Starkey was told by a Wolverhampton Crown Court judge: “These are the worst images I have ever seen.”

The 47-year-old father-of-one had a total of 3,130 photographs and videos on his computer at the home he used to share with his ex-wife in Waterhead Drive, Underhill, Wolverhampton, the court heard yesterday.

He now lives with his parents in Willenhall, the hearing was told. Miss Kanwal Jus, prosecuting, said the images were discovered after police executed a search warrant on his home. “In interview he admitted he had received images and sent images to people he had never met,” Miss Jus said. “The images involved very young children.”

Starkey admitted making and distributing indecent images from March 2005 to November 2007.

Judge Michael Dudley gave Starkey a three-year community order with three years supervision, and told him to attend a sex offenders programme and sign the sex offenders register for five years.

He said: “You were a man of good character, a hard-working man with a family – you have lost all of that and that is a huge punishment in itself.”

Mr John Dove, defending, said: “He looked at these images in a detached manner, he was desensitised by them. They provided him with some sort of relaxation from his job as a bus driver.

“He has since lost his job and has no contact with his daughter. Andrew Starkey’s life has fallen apart.”