A SOUTHAMPTON man’s partner shopped him to police after discovering that he had been looking at degrading images of children.

The woman made the discovery after viewing the Internet browsing history on their computer, the city crown court heard.

Martin Bailey had been looking at more than 200 images – nine of them of the worst category – featuring children aged 12-16, said prosecutor Daniel Sawyer.

When questioned, Bailey denied downloading or viewing the images, claiming that others in the house had used the computer, but there was no suspicion that they had been involved, Mr Sawyer added.

Bailey, of Anson Drive, Sholing, admitted four charges of making indecent images.

Giving him a nine months suspended sentence coupled with two years’ supervision, Judge Nicholas Rowland described the images as “abhorrent and they led to the proliferation of abuse of children around the world”.

The judge also ordered Bailey to attend the Internet sex offenders treatment programme and made him the subject of a ten-year sex offenders prevention order.

He also placed him on the sex offenders’ register.

In mitigation, Gary Venturi said that Bailey had made no effort to keep or categorise the images. He urged the court not to jail him but to put him on the treatment programme.