A SERIAL sex offender is back behind bars after he was caught with child abuse images for the third time.

Christopher Norris, from Cwmbran, was locked up again at Cardiff Crown Court after he used his wife’s laptop to search for them.

The 66-year-old paedophile admitted having the sick pictures on a USB stick and deleting internet data which he was prohibited from doing after a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) was previously imposed.

In 2008 he was jailed for six years for indecently assaulting a girl under 14 and for possessing and distributing indecent images of children in a case that involved 47 different offences.

And in 2015 Norris, of Fields Road, Oakfield, was jailed for four years for further crimes involving child abuse images.

He was sent to prison for a further 16 months by the Recorder of Cardiff, Judge Eleri Rees.

Prosecutor Hashim Salmman said Gwent Police became aware of his latest offending after gaining intelligence from child protection software during an operation.

Officers raided Norris’ home in May and a USB stick was found which contained five indecent images of children, including two category A films representing the most extreme form of sexual abuse.

Mr Salmman added: “On a laptop, torrent files indicative of indecent photographs of children were found and files in the recycling bin had been deleted.”

Hywel Davies, mitigating, said: “The defendant has attended numerous courses without benefit.

“He told me he had accessed these recent images out of curiosity and that there was no sexual gratification.”

Mr Davies further added that his client had entered an early guilty plea and had not distributed the images.

Jailing him, Judge Rees said his offending was aggravated by his previous convictions.

He has to register as a sex offender for life and was made subject of a new SHPO for an indefinite period.