A PAEDOPHILE who downloaded indecent images of children over a period of nine years has been spared jail.

Mark Harvey, of High Street, Bodicote, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.

The 52- year old was handed a community order for the offences at his sentencing at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday.

Prosecuting, Nigel Ogbourne told the court that acting on intelligence police first went to Harvey's home address at about 6.55am on February 9.

They seized an Acer laptop and, after forensic analysis, they discovered two images of the most severe category – A – five at category B and 175 images of category C, as well as one category C film.

All of the files were 'inaccessible' the court heard, suggesting that they had been deleted from the machine prior to the device being seized.

Although exact dates could not be determined they ranged from February 2008 to his arrest in February this year.

Search terms suggesting he was looking for child pornography were also seen on the machine including 'Lolita', 'pre-teen models' and 'teen escorts Oxford'.

In mitigation, Jane Brady said that her client had suffered a stroke shortly before his offending and this had seriously affected his behaviour ever since.

She added that he was 'ashamed' at what he had done and was keen to tackle his problem.

Sentencing, Judge Ian Pringle said: "Certainly as far as the more extreme images are concerned anyone who has had the misfortune, as I have had, to look at them they are truly obscene.

"To think that there is no victim is wholly wrong, the victim is that little child being abused in these images.

"It seems clear however that you had accepted this when the police came to your house."

Harvey was made subject to a community order for two hours to include a 60 days rehabilitation activity requirement and participation in the Cyber Safe programme.

He must also pay £480 in costs the and the machine and images were made forfeit and will be destroyed.