A COUPLE have avoided an immediate prison sentence after they admitted possessing thousands of the most serious category of child sex abuse images.

Paul Anthony Lawton and Ray Brian Steven Westrop “hoarded” the still and moving images at their Bournemouth home over a 17-year period.

Bournemouth Crown Court was told that 'over one million' images were found on various electronic devices and in printed material but not all of them were fully processed by police.

Officers cease the effort to sorting and categorising all of the images found due to the number that had been found.

Of those that were assessed, 3,479 were category A – the most serious. There were also 2,463 category B, 7,560 category C and 18 extreme pornography images.

Judge Stephen Climie told Lawton, 55, and Westrop, 61, that while their offences involved just the downloading of images, they were still “sexual abusers” and “complicit” in child abuse.

He said if there had been “even the slightest” element of the defendants being involved in committing physical abuse or approaching children themselves, the sentences would have been immediate custody.

Prosecuting, Catherine Flint told the court at a hearing on April 6 that police officers executed a warrant of the defendants’ home in Wollstonecraft Road in September 2017 after internet activity concerning child sex images had been traced to Westrop.

Officers found various electronic devices and both men were arrested.

Ms Flint described the number of images found from the search warrant as “very large” and “over one million”, with downloads dating back to 2000.

She said the defendants, who had been together for more than 30 years, made admissions in interview about the images and “being sexually attracted to children”.

Mitigating, Robert Grey said although the material was on the devices, a lot of it had not been viewed for some time. Mr Grey said Lawton described himself as a “hoarder” and that was why there was a large number of images.

“They have had this hanging over them (since their arrest),” said Mr Grey. “Both stress their remorse about this.”

The barrister said Westrop felt more responsible for the offending than his co-defendant, stating that it was him who started to download the images many years ago.

Both defendants, who had no previous convictions, were deemed as having a low risk of reoffending by the probation service.

Judge Climie sentenced Lawton and Westrop to 20 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after they admitting four counts of possessing indecent images of children – a charge for each category.

They were made subject to a tagged six-month curfew, which specified they must remain at their home address between 7pm and 7am. There was also an order to complete up to 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and each pay £215 costs.

The men were made subject to sex offenders register requirements and a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

Judge Climie told the defendants: “The two of you find yourself before the courts for the first time with offences which pass the custodial threshold.”

However, he noted there was sufficient mitigation to suspend the sentence, including their previous good character, admissions of guilt, “genuine remorse”, and in Westrop’s case events in his upbringing.

“You are sexual abusers and to an extent the sex offenders’ registration requirements and the sexual harm prevention order enforce that fact for the coming years,” the judge said.