Star Trek fan Anthony Alleyne jailed for child porn offences Published duration 6 September 2013

image caption Anthony Alleyne could not sell his flat after he converted it into a Starship Enterprise replica

A Star Trek fan who converted his flat into a replica of the Starship Enterprise has been jailed for downloading thousands of images of child abuse.

Anthony Alleyne, from Hinckley, Leicestershire, was jailed at Leicester Crown Court for 34 months.

The 60-year-old spent 10 years and thousands of pounds converting his home, which was inspired by the long-running TV series.

He previously admitted 22 charges.

Alleyne pleaded guilty to 20 charges relating to indecent images of child abuse and two further charges related to offences of a serious sexual nature.

'No real regret'

Of the more than 5,000 pictures he accessed between 2010 and 2012 many involved very young children and more than half were of the most serious category of abuse.

In sentencing Alleyne, Judge Philip Head said: "Without people like you accessing such material there would be no market and poor, desperate children would not be treated that way by depraved people.

"You have no real regret save for being caught."

He added: "This kind of sentence is what to expect if you are caught behaving this way at the expense of traumatised, brutalised children."

image caption The police officer who raided Alleyne's flat said it was "decked out as Star Trek Enterprise ship"

Alleyne was made the subject of a 10-year sexual offences prevention order, meaning his computer use will be monitored.

He will also have to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

The court was told he suffered depression and rarely left home following the break up of his marriage.

It was during this 17-year unemployed period he devoted himself to converting the flat into a replica of the Starship Enterprise, even building a replica transporter unit.

Police raided his flat in September 2012 after details from the police internet protocol unit but he initially refused to give passwords to online accounts.

He later deleted information from a different computer but experts were able to retrieve the information.

The court was told Alleyne was forced to put his flat on the market after his ex-wife, who owned the building, decided to sell.

He ripped out the Starship Enterprise design when he could not find someone to meet the £800,000 price tag and instead began to convert it into a design based on the spin-off series Star Trek Voyager.

However, he had to file for bankruptcy after taking out loans and using credit cards to start a business offering similar science fiction-themed makeovers.