A FATHER downloaded indecent images of children less than a month after admitting the same offence, a court heard.

Sukhdev Sandhu had been sentenced to attend a course for sex offenders after pleading guilty to his first offence on January 28, 2010.

But he was discovered to have accessed more images on February 20 that year.

However he has walked free from court after arguing that the second offence took place before he had been on a rehabilitation course that had stopped him re-offending since.

Siobhan Lindsey, prosecuting, told Southampton Crown Court how Sandhu was caught when offender managers visiting his Southampton home became suspicious and seized his laptop computer on July 23, 2014.

Experts found 32 indecent images of children in the computer records, two of which fell into the most serious category, as well as five extreme pornographic images depicting bestiality and violent sexual acts.

The youngest child identified was thought aged eight to 10 years old.

Investigators also found an external hard drive had been used to download and store the images but this was never recovered.

There was also a search term on the computer commonly used when searching for indecent images.

Sandhu was arrested and eight further indecent images of children were found on his mobile phone along with another three extreme pornographic images.

Miss Linsley said she had no evidence of when these were put on.

The court was told that Sandhu said the pictures were downloaded after his conviction but before he started his sex offender program and he had stopped once he completed that course.

Sandhu, 50, of Selborne Walk, Bitterne, admitted six counts of making indecent photographs of a child and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image.

David Reid, mitigating, said such behaviour was often compulsive or addictive and Sandhu had not then yet been given strategies to help him avoid temptation. The fact that he offended so soon after was “maybe his best mitigation”, Mr Reid added.

He said there had been no offences in the four and a half years since he was sentenced for 18 charges of making indecent images.

The court heard how Sandhu had then lost his job and due to these new offences his wife had now lost hers as a school teaching assistant, making it unlikely they could fund their son’s first year at university.

But Sandhu hopes to return to Malaysia short-term to work for his brother, allowing his wife to return to work and their income to fund their son’s education.

Judge Peter Henry said the images were “appalling” and this was not a “victimless crime” as children had been abused.

He said he could not be sure that Sandhu had continued looking at these images after his treatment and that sending him to prison might undo that work.

Sandhu was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for two years with an 18-month supervision requirement.

He was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, put on the sex offender register for 10 years and his mobile phone and laptop will be destroyed.