One of Britain’s worst paedophiles, who filmed himself abusing children as young as three, has died in prison.

Anthony Barron was serving life in prison after pleading guilty to 87 charges of sexual abuse of children, including attempted rape, sexual assault and making indecent photographs.

It’s been confirmed today that he died aged 72 on July 18 in the male sex offender prison HMP Ashfield, near Bristol. It’s not clear how he died.

Barron, formerly of Grove, in Oxfordshire, who was 54 at the time, was sentenced for a case described as the worst of its kind in his county.

The Prison and Probation Ombudsman is investigating his death, and a report will be published in due course.

At the time he was jailed, Judge Julian Hall told Barron he was a ‘plausible, predatory paedophile’ whose crimes he had found ‘quite chilling’.

The court heard Barron had targeted 11 girls aged from three to 12 for nine years beginning in 1997.

Amjad Malik, prosecuting, said Barron, a formerly popular figure in the community, had befriended their parents through his connections to primary schools and Scout groups and persuaded them to let the children stay with him at his home.

He then groomed the girls and filmed himself abusing them, using sweets and toys as bribes.

Mr Malik described Barron as ‘almost an integral part of the parents’ lives’ and a person they believed to be an ‘extremely friendly, helpful man’.

The court heard that suspicions were raised when one of Barron’s victims made a comment to her mother about him.

Police subsequently raided his house and seized 52 computers, which contained scores of video recordings of him abusing the girls.

Andrew Bright, defending, said the case was ‘truly shocking’, but told the Judge Barron had not used threats or violence to make the children comply.

Jailing Barron, the Judge said: ‘You totally betrayed the trust of parents who allowed you to look after their children. You abused them completely and treated them with no respect whatsoever. You treated them as if they were some sort of toy.

‘I can’t imagine anything worse than a parent knowing not only that their child had been abused but had been filmed being abused.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

One of Britain’s worst paedophiles, who filmed himself abusing children as young as three, has died in prison.

Anthony Barron was serving life in prison after pleading guilty to 87 charges of sexual abuse of children, including attempted rape, sexual assault and making indecent photographs.

It’s been confirmed today that he died aged 72 on July 18 in the male sex offender prison HMP Ashfield, near Bristol. It’s not clear how he died.

Barron, formerly of Grove, in Oxfordshire, who was 54 at the time, was sentenced for a case described as the worst of its kind in his county.

The Prison and Probation Ombudsman is investigating his death, and a report will be published in due course.

At the time he was jailed, Judge Julian Hall told Barron he was a ‘plausible, predatory paedophile’ whose crimes he had found ‘quite chilling’.

The court heard Barron had targeted 11 girls aged from three to 12 for nine years beginning in 1997.

Amjad Malik, prosecuting, said Barron, a formerly popular figure in the community, had befriended their parents through his connections to primary schools and Scout groups and persuaded them to let the children stay with him at his home.

He then groomed the girls and filmed himself abusing them, using sweets and toys as bribes.

Mr Malik described Barron as ‘almost an integral part of the parents’ lives’ and a person they believed to be an ‘extremely friendly, helpful man’.

The court heard that suspicions were raised when one of Barron’s victims made a comment to her mother about him.

Police subsequently raided his house and seized 52 computers, which contained scores of video recordings of him abusing the girls.

Andrew Bright, defending, said the case was ‘truly shocking’, but told the Judge Barron had not used threats or violence to make the children comply.

Jailing Barron, the Judge said: ‘You totally betrayed the trust of parents who allowed you to look after their children. You abused them completely and treated them with no respect whatsoever. You treated them as if they were some sort of toy.

‘I can’t imagine anything worse than a parent knowing not only that their child had been abused but had been filmed being abused.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.