A bank worker from Swindon has admitted downloading almost 3,000 images of children from the internet.

Yesterday at Swindon Crown Court, 30-year-old Steven Pickett fought back tears as he pleaded guilty to 15 counts of making the indecent images between July and December 2000. The court was told police discovered 2,837 images on his computer at his home in Freshbrook.

Pickett, who has been in custody since November, is also accused of assault and witness intimidation both of which he strongly denies.

Judge John McNaught ordered that Pickett should remain in custody until his trial date, which is yet to be announced.

l Former police officer Kelvin Scott is due to be sentenced today after admitting he downloaded child porn. Scott, of Dryden Place, pleaded guilty to three counts of making and one of possessing indecent images at Swindon Magistrates' Court last month.

The 52-year-old claimed he downloaded the images by accident after a popup message appeared on his computer diverting him to a website.

Magistrates have already told him he will avoid jail.