The leader of a national internet paedophile ring has been jailed with an indeterminate sentence, for a minimum term of nine years.

Colin Blanchard led what prosecutors described as "one of the most sickening paedophile rings this country has seen".

The 40-year-old convinced four female accomplices online to sexually assault young children and share their images.

Vanessa George, 40, Tracy Lyons, 41, Tracy Dawber, 44, and Angela Allen, 40 were in the married father of one's gang.

George abused young children at Little Ted's nursery in Plymouth, as did Allen and Lyons, who both assaulted youngsters to impress Blanchard.

Ann Reddrop, the Crown Prosecution Service lawyer who dealt with all the cases, said: "Colin Blanchard turned out to be an evil man who controlled four women"

"He encouraged these women to take and share ever more horrific images of the sexual abuse of children. As if that was not bad enough, he encouraged them to physically abuse children to produce those pictures."

The IT consultant's gang was smashed in June 2009, after one of Blanchard's work colleagues discovered the child abuse images on his computer and notified police.