A school caretaker from the Black Country who had more than 3,600 indecent images of children on his computer has been jailed for nine months.

Tony Hill, aged 61, lived and worked at the school in  Dudley  for 20 years until police raided his home and discovered the illicit hoard, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard. Recorder James Burbidge QC told the grandfather: “All right-thinking members of society would describe these images as vile and disgusting.You abused a position of power.”

“Any parent whose child was at this school must be sick to the stomach thinking their children went to school where a man such as you worked.”

Mr Howard Searle, prosecuting, said Hill used the internet to download thousands of indecent images of children as young as three and four to his computer from September 2007 to August 2009.

He said: “Although none of the images were accessed on computers within the school building, there is evidence that Mr Hill accessed these pictures during breaks when he returned to his home.”

Hill, now of no fixed address, had lived in a caretaker’s house at the school until he was sacked when he was arrested in November.

Mr Searle added: “When he was questioned by police he said he liked looking at pretty pictures of young girls and liked to see pretty children in Merry Hill shopping centre.”

The majority of the images were graded by police as level one, the least explicit. Mr Jas Mann, defending, said Hill was  extremely ashamed of the impact his actions had had on his relationship with his family.

“These images were for his own personally gratification and there is no question that he abused his position by ever abusing any of the children at the school,” added Mr Mann.

Hill pleaded guilty to 13 counts of making indecent images of children.

He was made subject to a 10 years Sexual Offenders Prevention Order and will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for the same period.