A PAEDOPHILE caught with ‘a phenomenal’ amount of indecent images and videos of children as young as five has been spared jail.

Police were first alerted to suspicious activity coming from an internet connection at an address in Busby Close, Witney, in April last year.

Despite efforts to catch the owner, 38-year old Robin Jeffery, at his home address, it wasn't until October 4 when officers visited the house and that they found him outside of the property sitting in his car.

When they approached him, police were finally given entry to the property and they seized a laptop which was later analysed by a police forensic team.

After police analysed the device they found he had 1,316 indecent images of children at the third most severe category – C – and 25 at the second most severe – B.

He also had four films depicting the most extreme category – A – as well as 169,579 uncharacterised images, which police are yet to sift through and label.

Jeffery, now of Two Mile Ash, Milton Keynes, had already admitted three counts of making indecent images of children ahead of his sentencing at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard he had used a peer-to-peer software called E-Mule to trawl the web for images using search terms ‘Lolita’ and ‘Nymphets’.

In mitigation, Francis Howard said his client, an IT worker, had been ‘lonely’ at the time of the offending and had sought solace in pornography.

He said: “This is a deeply unattractive state of affairs and also repulsive images.

“He did express his remorse and he has asked that that be re-iterated today and that is not just hollow words.”

He told the court that his client had voluntarily engaged in a rehabilitation programme called ‘Stop It Now’ since his arrest.

Sentencing, Judge Zoe Smith called the haul of images ‘a phenomenal’ amount and said: “Those in category A or B are nothing more than torture of young children.

“You say you got into this through chronic loneliness but this obviously became very, very addictive to you.”

She handed Jeffery a 12-month prison term, suspended for 24 months and he was made subject to a community order to include 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.

He must also pay costs of £670 and remain on the sex offenders register for 10 years.