A MAN who was caught with pornographic images and videos of children, some aged between 13 and 15, has avoided jail.

Thomas Prankerd, aged 39, was found to have the photographs on a computer and hard drive between 2011 and 2018.

Of the 130 images that were found, 23 of them were described as category A, said to be the worst type of indecent images, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Prankerd, formerly of Battery Hill, Winchester, was also found to have used the internet to search for illegal images.

At an earlier hearing he pleaded guilty to three offences of making indecent images and one offence of possession of an extreme pornographic image.

On Tuesday he was given a two-year community order and told to complete 30 rehabilitation days.

Tim Moores, prosecuting, said that a referral was made by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection command (CEOP) to police regarding activity on the social networking site Tumblr.

An email address was traced to Prankerd and officers attended his address in November 2018. He was later interviewed.

Mr Moores said Prankerd “used to bulk download pornography and when it got full, he would swap them onto the hard drive”, most of which was legal pornography.

He told the court that the defendant had used Tumbler around 10 years ago and had been using it to “describe sexual fantasies”.

In mitigation, Prankerd’s barrister Nicholas Tucker said: “As a result of these offences the defendant’s life is in ruins. He has lost his job.”

He has also been forced to move in with his parents in Swansea, Wales, having left the family home.

Mr Tucker told His Honour Judge Keith Cutler that Prankerd has engaged in counselling and with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which aims to prevent child sex abuse.

He added: “This is a man who is never going to find himself in front of the courts again. It has been a harrowing experience.”

In sentencing, Judge Cutler ordered Prankered to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years and he will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order, adding: “I want this to be the day where you start working hard. This is your only chance, please do not mess it up otherwise if you come back to the courts it will be immediate custody.”

To which Prankerd replied: “Thank you sir, I won’t let you down.”