A MAN who downloaded images of child abuse was also found to have hundreds of pictures of people having sex with animals.

Fernando Freitas had the hoard of vile material stored on his computer when police went to his Pinehurst home in February last year.

And as well as the various pictures and movies they also found the 55-year-old had put a series of terms into search engines as he hunted down the illicit material.

But after hearing that he was full of remorse and had actually got his son to delete the files, a judge imposed a suspended sentence.

Hannah Squire, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court he was arrested as a result of 'police intelligence' into his online activity.

When his computer was analysed it was found to have numerous movies and pictures of child abuse as well as the material involving animals.

He has also used search terms like 'paedophile kid', 'child porn', and 'six-year-old porn queen', she said.

When he was questioned he accepted he had downloaded the files but insisted he gained no 'sexual gratification' from it,

Freitas admitted three counts of making indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornography between December 2014 and February 2015.

He made five movies and two images in category A, the worst kind, making one movie and three images in category B and four movies and six images in category C .

Freitas, of Hawthorn Avenue, also admitted possessing 266 extreme pornographic images of adults have sex with animals.

Cathy Thornton, defending, said her client is 'very remorseful and embarrassed,' about the situation he finds himself in.

She said he started using legal pornography with his wife but then moved on to extreme material and then the images of children.

"It seems almost to be a fatal fascination with this. He knows he knew it was wrong. What he should have done is sought help," she said.

"After a short term, relatively, he realised the severity of what he was doing and he asked his son to clean off the images.

"He didn't throw the tower away but these images were no longer accessible without specialist software."

She said he had been a self employed delivery driver in the past and when he was struggling to make ends meet carried out a fraud.

Passing sentence Judge Sir John Royce said: "Mr Freitas, you are 55 now and you have pleaded guilty to four of these offences.

"The first count relates to five category A movies and two stills. The fourth count concerns 266 images of extreme pornography involving animals.

"The guidelines suggest the starting point of one year custody with a range of 26 weeks to three years.

"I take into account your plea and I take into account what is said in the pre-sentence report.

"I bear in mind your previous convictions are for offences of a completely different nature. I also take into account this was for a relatively short period of time."

He imposed a six-month jail term suspended for two years with 40 days of rehabilitation requirement and a sexual harm prevention order restricting his liberty.