An Oldham man has been spared jail after admitting being found with child pornography on his devices.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard police carried out a raid of the home of Paul Hayes in January 2019.

At first he was not home so they went to his work where he was located.

Officers seized a number of devices including a laptop and mobiles and later searched his home.

When Hayes was interviewed he admitted owning the devices, provided the pins but said there would be nothing incriminating, as he had only once looked for prohibited material and had never done so again.

Prosecutor Anthony Williams revealed what officers actually found.

He said: “There were 56 category A images of children, five were accessible, 51 were inaccessible, 31 b images, one was accessible 36 inaccessible, there were 34 c images, three were accessible and 31 inaccessible.

“There were 19 prohibited images of children, 18 were accessible one was inaccessible.”

He also said Hayes had the software installed which could delete material but there was no indication this had been done.

The court heard the offences had begun in July 2015.

Hayes admitted three charges of downloading category A, B and C images and possessing prohibited images and appeared in court to be sentenced.

Representing the man from Oldham Road in Royton, defence counsel Leonard Bernstein said: “He has a lack of previous convictions, he is a man of good character, he is 51 years of age.

“He pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, he shows remorse."

He said he would benefit from rehabilitation, adding: “He could have greater insights into his own motivations and understanding of those motivations.

“He needs to have a long hard look at himself.”

Imposing a sentence, judge Sophie McKone said: “In order for you to have images like that, children are abused, and they are abused to supply the market for people like you.

“So you are playing your part in the abuse of children.”

But she said there was a “realistic prospect of rehabilitation” so an immediate jail sentence could be avoided.

She suspended a sentence of a year for 18 months, ordered him to attend at 24 rehabilitation requirement days and carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.

She also imposed a sexual harm prevention order and he was placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.