A CRUEL and arrogant pervert who ripped off his employers for almost half a million pounds and blew much of it on cocaine and prostitutes has been jailed for eight years.

Anthony Simpson, a paedophile with a fetish for women dressed as little girls, hoarded a "staggering" amount of child porn while on police bail for stealing from the partners of Bradford firm Hammonds Direct.

Yesterday, he was imprisoned for four years apiece for theft of £490,420 from the defunct conveyancing firm, and distribution and possession of more than 300,000 images of children as young as six.

Simpson, a chartered accountant with a long-standing addiction to Class A drugs, was self-employed finance controller at Hammonds Direct.

The company, based at Pennine House in Well Street, Little Germany, went bust in 2009 with the loss of 200 jobs because of a collapse in mortgage lending.

Simpson then had unrivalled access to a £2.3 million "cash call" raised by its partners to meet liabilities.

After the 53-year-old was dismissed for poor performance, it was discovered he had withdrawn £107,500 in cash, forged cheques and made unauthorised internet transfers.

Judge Mark Savill told him: "This was a grave breach of trust over a very long period."

The company hired Simpson to protect the "vulnerable and parlous" state of its finances and he had betrayed the partners and its employees.

He spent £107,000 on an escort agency and rented a swanky flat in Leeds. Other money went on illegal drugs, paying for a house in Hirst Avenue, Heckmondwike, and on cosmetic surgery for a young woman.

Simpson sat in the dock at Bradford Crown Court with arms folded as prosecutor Kirstie Watson said he had accused others at Hammonds Direct of criminality, telling the police he was being paid to cover it up.

He pleaded guilty on the fourth day of his trial to stealing from the firm between September 1, 2008, and July 8, 2010. He then admitted 27 offences involving the distribution and possession of 312,806 indecent images of children, many at the highest level of seriousness.

Simpson insisted on representing himself until after he had admitted all the offences, saying he did not trust the legal profession.

Solicitor advocate Narinder Rathour, hired to represent him yesterday, said his client was a loner addicted to Class A drugs.

"He is a very talented accountant who has wasted his life away," Mr Rathour said.

"He only has himself to blame and the biggest loser is now going to be him."

It was not a sophisticated theft and Simpson was never going to get away with it, Mr Rathour said.

He was disgusted with himself about the child porn and could not explain why he hoarded it because he was attracted to adult women.

Judge Savill said Simpson, a physics graduate from Oxford University, felt he was "rather above everyone."

The judge said of the child porn stash: "These are not just numbers they are individual instances of appalling sexual abuse against young children.

"The images if viewed would traumatise any decent member of society."

The judge accused Simpson of "a cruel and selfish perversion".

"All of these children are humiliated and many are in pain and dreadful distress," he said.

"You feel superior to others, or at least disconnected. You are arrogant and may have a personality disorder."

A Proceeds of Crime Application timetable was set to claw back the missing money, with a first hearing on November 6.

After the case, Detective Inspector Ian Bryar, of the Bradford Quartz Team, said: "This detailed and painstaking investigation into allegations of fraud led us to uncover Simpson's downloading and distribution of indecent images.

"Protecting vulnerable victims is at the heart of everything we do and I hope this sentence serves as a warning to those who prey on the vulnerable that we will investigate and prosecute any individual who commits offences of this nature."