The Evening Courier in Halifax has been praised by West Yorkshire Police for helping trap a sex pervert whose catalogue of horrific crimes was said to have put him on a par with Myra Hindley and Fred West.

An investigation by a team from the evening paper led to the conviction of 42-year-old Glyn Kenyon, who has now been jailed for a total of 17 life sentences.

Detective Superintendent Bob Bridgestock said: "I'm extremely grateful that the newspaper didn't just keep the information to themselves or put it to one side.

"It's about people coming forward and the Courier actions were exemplary.

"They didn't waste any time and brought it to the attention of the police."

He was speaking at a press conference following Kenyon's conviction for attempted murder, where the story could finally be made public after a media blackout on the case.

On May 10, 2000, Courier reporters learned that child porn had been found on a Halifax estate. They investigated and, realising its serious nature, reported it to police, who launched their own six-month investigation.

Courier journalists also learned that a teenage girl had been posted a mobile phone with lewd messages on the voicemail.

The girl and her family also received pornographic material in the post, including a photograph of a girl with intimate body piercing. She was later found to be the youngest of his victims.

The family were the previous occupants of Kenyon's home and he had used their name to receive the goods. But the postman knew the family, recognised the name, and began to deliver the parcels to their new home nearby.

On receiving the explicit material, the family alerted the police. They also contacted the Courier, which investigated and pin-pointed the Kenyon house.

As the net began to close on Kenyon, he and his wife, Carol, began to move out - leaving bags of explicit material outside their home.

Local youths opened the black bin liners put outside ready for the move and found sexually explicit photographs and literature which they passed around the estate.

Kenyon was subsequently found guilty of committing a string of horrific sex offences against girls following a trial at Leeds Crown Court in February. The prosecuting barrister put him on a par with killers Myra Hindley and Fred West.

The reporting blackout on the three-week case was lifted at Bradford Crown Court after Kenyon was also convicted of attempting to murder Jean Maguire, (43), in Halifax, in August 1997. He was linked to that case through DNA testing.

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