A KNOWN sex offender was jailed for two years after more than 600 obscene photographs of children were found on his computer.

Police had gone to the home of Gareth Sharp, pictured above, in relation to another matter when they seized his computer for examination and found the images which had been opened and deleted.

Some, however, had been viewed on more than one occasion, prosecutor Rachel Roberton told Southampton Crown Court sitting at Winchester .

Sharp, a jobless 34-year-old, of Nelson Road, Winchester, had been committed for sentence by magistrates after admitting 11 charges of possessing the images.

Judge Jane Mill QC told Sharp, who had five previous convictions including indecent assault: “No suspended sentence would reflect the gravity of this case.”