Killer wanted to break 'the last taboo' with haul of child porn

The 27-year-old was caught when a probation officer found him trying to remove the hard drive from the machine with a tin opener.

Venables claimed he was anxious about his personal records being accessed but, when police examined the computer, they found 57 indecent images of children – including eight classed at level four, the second most serious level.

Yesterday, the Old Bailey also heard how, since his release on licence in 2001, Venables had been arrested on suspicion of affray and cautioned for possessing cocaine.

The court was told that, in addition to the eight level four images, Venables' computer contained two images at level three, three at level two, and 44 at level one.

Louis Mably, prosecuting, said analysis of the computer indicated that Venables had "an extensive history of searching for and downloading indecent images of children".

Venables downloaded videos which showed young girls, said to be about eight, being raped by men, touching themselves in a sexual way and being forced to perform sex acts.

Some of the videos could take days or even weeks to download, the court heard, and Venables admitted to police that he was sexually aroused by them.

He said he considered it "breaking the last taboo" in a statement to police in March but, interviewed about a video involving an eight year-old girl, he told officers he had "no intention" of having sex with a child.

Venables admitted three charges, the first relating to the downloading of 57 pornographic images between February 2009 and February this year.

The second involved distributing indecent photographs in February this year, and the third involved passing 42 images to convicted paedophile Leslie Blanchard in February 2008.

Venables sent messages to Blanchard, from Chelmsford, Essex, claiming to be a 35-year-old married woman called Dawn Smith who abused her eight-year-old daughter.

Mr Mably said Venables wanted Blanchard to send images of abuse to him, but Blanchard wanted to abuse the girl himself.

Venables offered to sell Blanchard access to the girl and a price was agreed, but Venables then brought the conversation to an abrupt end.

Blanchard's laptop showed that the men had exchanged messages using Google Hello.

"Dawn said she was interested in pictures of parents abusing their children," Mr Mably said.

"Dawn said she and her husband abused their daughter.

"Blanchard said he would like to met their daughter and abuse her himself. It appeared that Dawn agreed a price for selling her daughter for a few hours."

Mr Mably said Blanchard gave a telephone number but "Dawn" broke off contact abruptly, telling him he would never meet or touch her daughter.

The court heard that Venables had been in trouble with the law twice before while on licence.

In September 2008 he was arrested on suspicion of affray after a drunken street fight and given a formal warning by the Probation Service.

Later the same year he was cautioned for possession of cocaine after he was found with a small amount of the class A drug, said to be for personal use.

Psychiatrist Professor Tom Fahy, of King's College London, suggested the killer was on a "self-destruct mission" adding: "Venables took extreme risk in the crimes he committed One would almost think he was trying to get caught."

Injunction keeps identity secret

Venables succeeded in keeping an injunction in place preventing details of his current identity being revealed after Edward Fitzgerald QC representing him said his life was in danger if that became public.

He told the Old Bailey his was an exceptional situation the risks of injury or death were "real and substantial."

There were graphic threats on the internet from people who wanted to torture and kill Venables, or to put a bullet in him.

One person wrongly identified as Venables had to flee his home as a result.