A COUPLE who "hoarded" thousands of indecent images of children have avoided a potential Court of Appeal review into the suspended prison sentence they received.

Paul Anthony Lawton and Ray Brian Steven Westrop were handed 20-month prison terms, suspended for two years, by a judge at Bournemouth Crown Court last month.

This was after police found more than 13,000 images of child sex abuse on various electronic devices and in printed material belonging to the pair at their Bournemouth home.

Following the hearing, the case was reported to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to consider if the sentence was 'unduly lenient' and should be referred to the Court of Appeal.

However, Solicitor General Lucy Frazer QC MP has ruled against doing this.

A spokesperson for the AGO said: "The Solicitor General was shocked to hear about this case. However, after careful consideration she has concluded that she could not refer this case to the Court of Appeal.

"A referral under the unduly lenient sentence scheme to the Court of Appeal can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.

"The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case.”

As reported, 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.

Prosecutor Catherine Flint told Bournemouth Crown Court the number of images found was “very large” and “over one million”, with downloads dating back to 2000.

Due to the number of images found, not all were fully processed by police, the court heard.

Ms Flint 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.”

Lawton, 55, and Westrop, 61, admitted four counts of possessing indecent images of children and extreme pornography.

Alongside the suspended sentence, 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.