A man jailed for possessing a "staggering" amount of indecent images of children told police he was searching for "the perfect female figure".

Jonathan Turkentine, 64, was found to have more than 250,000 indecent images and movies of children after police executed a warrant at his Colchester home, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Police received intelligence regarding the viewing of indecent images and raided Turkentine's home in September 2020, Matthew Bagnall, prosecuting, told the court.

Turkentine, of Mersea Road, Colchester, told officers he knew why they were here, and handed over a laptop and two hard drives, Mr Bagnall said.

A number of devices were seized and 448 indecent images and 68 movies of the most serious kind - category A - were discovered.

A further 1,327 images and 46 movies of category B were found, along with 248,904 images and 593 movies graded as category C.

The court heard that a further 448,000 images were not categorised by police.

The ages of the children in the images and movies ranged from six years old to teenagers and were viewed over 11 years, the court heard.

Turkentine made a number of admissions to officers but denied that he had a sexual interest in children, the court heard.

He said he viewed the images and movies for "artistic reasons" as he was researching the "perfect female form", Mr Bagnall told the court.

Turkentine had no previous convictions, the court heard.

He previously pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children.

Daniel Setter, mitigating, said Turkentine was "relieved when the knock at the door came" because his behaviour had become obsessive.

Mr Setter said Turkentine no longer has a mobile phone or access to the internet.

Sentencing him on Wednesday, Judge David Pugh told Turkentine: "These type of offences result in children being abused.

"People like you encourage these perpetrators to abuse young children."

Judge Pugh said the vast amount of images was described as "staggering" in a pre-sentence report.

The judge added: "I do not consider you have shown remorse."

Turkentine was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and will serve half in custody before his release on licence.

A 10-year sexual harm prevention order was also imposed and Turkentine will also be subject to notification requirements for 10 years.