A former Kent MP caught with almost 1,500 illegal child sex images described as "ghastly, unpleasant and horrific", has been jailed for more than two years.

Paul Clark, 66, was caught during a raid on his home and told police: "I kept telling myself to stop."

He is the ex-parliamentary private secretary to major Labour Party figures deputy PM John Prescott and education secretary Ed Balls.

The judge told him he had suffered a "tragic fall, ignominy and public humiliation", adding: "But these are the gravest offences.”

He was jailed for a total of 28 months and he will be on the Sex Offenders’ List for 10 years and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention for the same period.

Judge Philip Statman told him the children pictured are victims – some one of them were "clearly disturbed” and he’d done it for his "sexual gratification".

Maidstone Crown Court heard how Clark also distributed vile sex images of children on October 4, 2020, October 31, 2020, and again on December 4, 2020.

The politician – who represented Gillingham from 1997 to 2010 – pleaded guilty to nine charges of possessing and distributing child sex images of children as young as three.

Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said officers from the National Crime Agency raided Clark's Gillingham home in First Avenue on May 12 2021.

As they searched his iPhone, hard drives and laptops, Clark told them: "I know why you are here..I kept telling myself to stop.”

Mr Stephenson said Clark had also taken part in conversations on WhatsApp and Kik outlining his perverted desires for sex with young teenagers – and sent and received sex images.

One of the images showed a child aged between three and five being subjected to a sex act by an adult.

Mr Stevenson added: "This video was last accessed on the defendant’s device on March 15 2021 and was attached to an email sent to the MP’s Hotmail account.

In all, Clark accessed 298 category A videos and stills, 415 category B and 733 category C.

On his iPhone, police discovered Chatlogs with someone called Toni discussing abuse.

Ronnie Manek, defending, said none of the offences were committed while he was an MP and he struggled during Covid. His marriage has also broken down.

He added since losing his seat he was "decent, hardworking" and carried out work in Africa.

Additional reporting: Ben Austin

Just 37.4 miles separate the House of Commons from courtroom number two at Maidstone Crown Court.

But for disgraced former Labour MP Paul Clark the distance must have seemed more like than a million miles as he faced justice this morning.

His fall from grace complete, the 66-year-old arrived via McDonald's, carrying a sports bag with his personal belongings.

He declined to answer reporters' questions as he entered the building with his barrister Ronnie Manek.

Once inside, he sat seemingly joking with his cousins, who were attending the proceedings.

Wearing a navy blue, two-piece suit and red tie, his demeanour changed as he entered the courtroom and took his place in the dock.

Suddenly appearing disheveled, he looked down as the prosector spoke of horrific images of girls between the ages of three and 16.

Clark’s only movement was the occasional shaking of his head.

As the judge delivered his verdict, Clark stared at him – not diverting his gaze once.

He then began the lonely descent to the cells from where he was taken to prison to start his sentence.

Clark represented Gillingham from 1997 to 2010 when he was defeated by current MP Rehman Chishti in the newly-formed constituency of Gillingham and Rainham.

In 2008, he was appointed a parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Transport.

He was Labour's candidate at the 2015 general election but was once again defeated by Mr Chishti. He decided not to contest the seat again.

His late mother Sheila, who died in 2018, was a former mayor of Gillingham.

Clark was in the news in 2018 when he spoke out about alleged sexual harassment at Westminster.

He felt thorough investigations should be held to get to the bottom of the problem.

He said: “If this happened in any other workplace you would go through a disciplinary process and the result would be dismissal, but there’s no process for getting rid of an MP. Who employs them? It’s the electorate – maybe legislation needs to be changed."

The Labour stalwart was a central figure when, during the 2005 general election campaign, he hosted Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

The two men – known to be feuding behind the scenes – put on a show of unity when they visited Medway and Blair was famously shown buying Brown an ice cream.