A convicted paedophile who claimed a regional daily inaccurately reported he had contacted “thousands” of children has had his complaint rejected by the press watchdog.

Jason Swift, left, a former Army Staff Sergeant, argued that although police had found 3,000 indecent images stored on his computer, the Cambridge News was wrong to report he had made contact with thousands of children.

Swift was jailed for 10 years after being convicted of possessing indecent images and inciting children to engage in sexual activity.

The News reported he had “threatened” the children and used “blackmail” to make them carry out sexual acts on themselves, quoting Detective Constable Nicola Perry as saying Swift was “a dangerous, predatory man who preyed on the vulnerable for his own sexual gratification”.

Swift complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation under Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice, claiming while he had thousands of photographs of children on his computer, this did not mean that he had contacted thousands of children.

He further added it was inaccurate to describe him as an “ex-army officer” because he had been a Staff sergeant, and that a statement given in a police press release should not be taken as fact.

The News responded that the article, syndicated from another local newspaper, had been published almost 12 months prior to the complaint being received and it was not in a position to trace the journalist who wrote the story.

It said that the information concerning the complainant contacting “thousands of children” could have been obtained in addition to the police press release upon which the article was based, or it could have been a typographical error.

However, the News said that it made little difference whether the complainant had contacted hundreds or thousands of children online given that he was found in possession of 3,000 indecent images of children and the effect of any inaccuracy paled into insignificance when compared to the distress suffered by the children filmed and abused.

The complaint was not upheld, and the full adjudication can be read here.