A Hadleigh paedophile who raped a young girl and took pictures of the abuse has been jailed for 15 years.

Martin Woods, 42, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court for sentence on Thursday after previously admitting seven offences relating to two victims.

On April 9 at his plea and trial preparation hearing, Woods pleaded guilty to raping a child under the age the age of 13, sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13, two counts of taking indecent images of a child, and three charges of making indecent images of children.

The abuse happened during 2020, the court heard.

Claire Matthews, prosecuting, told the court Woods was arrested last year following a disclosure from one of the girls.

As a result of his arrest, devices were seized from his home, Ms Matthews said.

Recovered from Woods' mobile phone were a number of indecent images which showed him abusing the two girls.

Police also found four downloaded indecent images of children of the most serious kind - category A - along with two category B images and two category C images on an iPad.

Officers also discovered numerous internet searches for indecent images of young prepubescent girls, Ms Matthews told the court.

Woods, of Guthrum Road, Hadleigh, was further arrested for the indecent images offences but gave no comment to officers' questions in interview.

Sentencing Woods, Judge Emma Peters said the impact on the victims has been "profound".

Judge Peters called Woods' offending "horrific" and that his internet search history showed he had a sexual interest in young girls.

At the previous hearing, Judge Peters ordered a dangerousness report from the Probation Service to assess if Woods posed a risk to the public.

She told the court she was satisfied that Woods did present a risk to the public.

Judge Peters sentenced Woods to 15 years in prison with an extended licence period of six years.

Woods will have to serve two thirds of his custodial sentence behind bars, meaning he will serve a minimum of 10 years before he is considered for parole.

Judge Peters also imposed a indefinite sexual harm prevention order and ordered him to sign the sex offenders' register for life.