A WOMAN who took pictures of her 70-year-old husband sexually abusing a six-year-old girl has been jailed.

Depraved Julia Howlett, 45, used a digital camera to capture images of ageing husband Peter– who was also jailed – touching the youngster.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the couple then stored the sickening photos on a CD entitled “best pictures”.

Police were alerted to the couple after Julia Howlett, a grandmother-of-13, called to report a burglary on October 1 last year.

When officers arrived at their home on Fairbrook Drive, in Birkenhead, a distressed family member handed over 15 CDs he had found in the couple’s bedroom, containing indecent pictures of youngsters.

Howlett herself handed over a further 36 CDs. They revealed more than 700 pornographic pictures and videos containing more than 26 hours of footage.

Philip Hall, prosecuting, told the court the vast majority of images were Category 4, the second most serious level of abuse. Some were at the most severe level, Category 5.

When the pair were inter- viewed, Peter Howlett, who walks with crutches and has been suffering from ill-health for 15 years, said he was doing “research” and had been trying to send viruses to paedophile websites.

But Janet Reaney, defending Julia Howlett, told the court her client told police she was more responsible for the pictures than her retired husband.

The pair, who have no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault on February 23, 2006.

They also admitted 13 counts of making and possessing indecent photo and videos between February 1, 2006, and October 2 last year.

Yesterday, Judge David Swift jailed them both for two years and eight months.

He said: “Obviously there had been the downloading and viewing of child pornography for some time, with the first movie downloaded in October, 2005.

“Notwithstanding that it had been going on for some time, there was a descent into making images of your own by photographing these indecent acts.”

He added: “Each of you knew what was going on, you knew what you were doing and you each knew it was wrong.”

Judge Swift ordered them to sign the sex offenders’ register. He also put them on sexual offences prevention orders, stopping them from working with children.

The court heard that Julia Howlett had a “troubled background” and been subjected to violence in her first marriage, despite a happy childhood.

Miss Reaney added that Howlett had now severed all links with her family and was on anti-depressants.

She added that the couple’s home had been targeted.