I realised that my behaviours were quite dog-like in childhood, probably from the age of six. No-one ever talked about it, it was never mentioned.

My parents took early retirement and we moved to a farm in Norfolk. It wasn’t until the internet arrived in our house that I started chatting to people online – mostly through groups and message boards.

I was incredibly nervous when I first started talking to people online. I was living with my parents and I would sneak downstairs at three in the morning to get on the internet to look for this stuff.

I would hold a pillow over the 56k modem so you couldn’t hear the modem noise. I was worried that If I ever spoke to anyone about it, they would be like ‘you’re a nut job’.