AN ACCOUNTANT who stole almost half a million pounds from a Bradford conveyancing firm to pay for escort girls and a plush flat is behind bars awaiting a long prison sentence.

Anthony Simpson ripped off Hammonds Direct while hoarding and distributing a huge stash of child pornography, Bradford Crown Court heard.

He was warned by Judge Mark Savill: "You will inevitably receive a lengthy sentence of imprisonment and you will stay in custody until we meet again on June 12."

Bearded and bespectacled Simpson, 53, changed his plea to guilty on the fourth day of his trial last week for stealing £490,420 from the partners of Hammonds Direct, between September 1, 2008, and July 8, 2010.

He insisted on representing himself at every court hearing.

Yesterday, he was brought back to the court from prison and he admitted 27 offences involving the distribution and possession of more than 300,000 indecent images of children.

Simpson, who wore a short-sleeved purple shirt and white trousers, was remanded back into custody for the preparation of a report from the probation service.

He will be sentenced on June 12.

Judge Savill lifted a court order banning any publicity about the theft case.

Simpson, of Wood Avenue, Dale Lane Estate, Heckmondwike, transferred money to himself from Hammonds Direct and made unauthorised cash withdrawals from its bank accounts.

The money is believed to have gone to a wide range of recipients, including around £100,000 to an escort agency and payments to a surgical company. Simpson also funded a flat in Leeds.

When he was arrested in July, 2010, the police seized a number of laptop computers that were found to contain a huge amount of child porn images and movies, including some at the highest level of seriousness.

When officers returned to the Heckmondwike address some months later, they caught Simpson red-handed downloading more illegal pictures of children.

He pleaded guilty to six offences of distributing indecent images of children by putting them in a 'share folder'; 20 charges of making indecent images and movies of children and a roll-up count of making a further 312,780 child porn images, all on or before July 16, 2010.

Judge Savill ordered Simpson to sign on the sex offenders register for a period that will be determined by the length of time he is jailed for.

Kirstie Watson, barrister for the Crown, said a Sexual Offences Prevention Order had been drafted ready for the sentencing hearing.

Hammonds Direct, based at Pennine House in Well Street, Little Germany, went bust in 2009 with the loss of 200 jobs.

It went under after losing 80 per cent of its business to a collapse in mortgage lending.

The firm was established in 1995 and grew to be the UK’s leading bulk conveyancing business, with a turnover of more than £14 million.

It had offices in Manchester and Mumbai in India and focused mainly on re-mortgage business, helping people switch their loans between lenders.