A man, who was turned over to police after his wife found thousands of indecent photos of children on his lap top, has been spared jail.

Timothy Smith was handed a six month prison sentence, suspended for two years, by Peterborough Crown Court.

DC Mark Yendley, who investigated, said: “It is important to stress that downloading and viewing these types of despicable images is not a victimless crime.

“It only adds to the demand and increases the chances of more children somewhere being abused and exploited.”

Smith, 56, was found to be viewing the images online after his wife inspected his two laptop computers.

She had thought he may have financial problems linked to gambling after discovering he had cashed in a pension.

However, she discovered an online history of websites containing sexual images of children and, after consulting a friend, called police.

Police went to view the material on September 17 last year and Smith, of Troughton Way, Leverington, near Wisbech, was arrested.

In interview, he said he was attracted to young girls and claimed he had tried but failed to stop downloading the images.

The images and some videos found by officers ranged in seriousness, including some graded most severe.

In June at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court, Smith pleaded guilty to two charges of making an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child, two charges of possessing and indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child, two charges of possessing extreme pornographic images and possessing a prohibited image of a child.

On Friday (October 21), he was given a six month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Peterborough Crown Court. He was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for seven years.