A sex offender caught with indecent images of children on his computer for the second time has been spared jail.
Clifford Winchcombe was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence at Southampton Crown Court.
Winchcombe, 53, of Atherley Road, Shirley, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of downloading and possessing 241 indecent images of children.
Prosecutor Jonathan Underhill said police seized Winchcombe’s computer on March 8 last year and found videos and photographs of children aged four to 13.
He told the court that Winchcombe was jailed in 2007 for 18 offences of possessing indecent images of children.
Winchcombe admitted to owning the computer but claimed the machine had been reconditioned and the images were put on by a previous owner.
Judge Peter Blair ordered Winchcombe to complete a three-year sexual offences rehabilitation course.
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