A FORMER nursing assistant locked up for 28 months after peeking at more than 360,000 indecent images has claimed his offending was sparked by his childhood abuse.

Adrian Sinnott admitted scouring online for the 'incomprehensible' amount of images and videos of exploited children as young as three-months-old.

The 51-year-old, who has a history of suicide attempts, blames abuse at the hands of his deceased parents for his 'interest' in the images, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Police seized Sinnott's computer and hard drives after raiding his home in Lake Street, Oxford, at 6.35am on December 3, 2015.

There were about one million images not inspected by police, prosecutor Julie Whitby told the court on Thursday.

Defence barrister Alexandra Bull said Sinnott, who had no previous convictions, was sexually abused by his mother and physically abused by his father during childhood.

The sex offender's mother would use him as a 'replacement' when his father worked nights, leaving him 'very confused', the barrister said.

Sinnott, who was diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder, now finds it difficult to socialise.

The paedophile, who struggled to come to terms with his abuse, would look at images during times of 'intense anxiety', including if someone was late meeting him.

Ms Bull went on to say Sinnott does not like physical contact with people, adding: "He wants to have a relationship but knows he is not ready.

"He knows it is wrong, he knows it is not a victimless crime. He hated himself for doing it and described it as a terrible situation.

"There is an element of hoarding. There are certainly too many images for him to look at in any one sitting. It's a sort of collection."

Jailing the defendant, Judge Maria Lamb confessed she thought Sinnott had an 'unhappy background' but claimed his 'dark side' helped him gaze at the distressed children.

She handed him a sexual harm prevention order, told him to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and pay a victim surcharge.

Investigating officer Det Con Jeffrey Wheble, from the Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) said: "I am pleased with this conviction. We never lose sight of the fact that each individual image depicts a child being abused. 

"Looking for the image, storing it and sharing it is part of the story of the abuse of these children. Our message to those people engaged in this activity is simple - we will trace you and bring you to justice."

Sinnott admitted three counts of making indecent photographs of children, three counts of possess to show or distribute indecent photographs of a child, possession of extreme pornography and possession of a prohibited image between August 27, 2011, and December 3, 2015.