A MENTALLY-ill man who sent DJ Sara Cox a series of creepy letters was caught with a hoard of images showing horrific child abuse when he was arrested, a court heard.

Anthony Collins repeatedly posted letters handwritten in felt-tip pen to BBC presenter, who grew up in Little Lever, and her husband, calling her “sexy” and “attractive”.

The 49-year-old told Cox he was not loved by anyone and was severely mentally disturbed, and begged her to invite him to visit her at her studio.

But when police raided his home in February they found a stash of child pornography images in a bedside drawer, Maidstone Crown Court was told.

Three of the worst showed young girls being sexually exploited, while a further eight were of girls as young as four, naked and in sexually provocative positions.

Officers also uncovered pictures of children under the age of 10 from American beauty pageants, an image of a baby girl asleep and printed information about countries with the largest number of child prostitutes, as well as a DVD about a child victim of sexual abuse.

Prosecuting, Mary Jacobson said Collins, who has a long history of harassing young girls and breaching restraining orders, had admitted one charge of harassment, two of making indecent images of children and two of possessing indecent images of children.

Ms Jacobson told the court Collins, who is being held in prison, had said he was attracted to the 42-year-old DJ and “wanted to be in the news”, and that he “wants help” over his sexual interests as he “can’t help what he does”.

She said: “He says he has a strong interest in girls over the age of nine and fantasises about having sex with them.

“He said he would like help as he always has these thoughts and he knows it is wrong.”

The court heard Cox, referred to by her married name Cyzer, opened an envelope at her London home on January 24, which she recognised as similar to one she received a year earlier.

It contained a picture of Collins and two letters in which he described how he was lonely, lived alone and suffered from severe mental health problems, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

A previous hearing was told Collins had said his mother had died from cancer and his brother had drowned in a river.

The court was told Collins has convictions dating back more than 25 years, including spells in prison for harassing young girls and breaching subsequent restraining orders banning him from being around girls under 16.

A judge ordered Collins, of Afghan Road in Chatham, Kent, to undergo a psychiatric report to assess his dangerousness before he can be sentenced.