A porn addict has been spared jail after being found with 900 indecent images and videos of children on his computer.

Police were alerted to Ian Cox’s online activity and raided his home in Portslade, finding videos of the highest category of abuse.

The 27-year-old admitted to being in possession of the vile material which showed children as young as ten being sexually abused.

At a sentencing hearing at Lewes Crown Court, Judge Janet Waddicor said the offence was serious enough to warrant a jail sentence.

The court heard Cox was caught out after his online behaviour was flagged up to authorities.

Sussex Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation team received information Cox’s internet protocol (IP) address had accessed indecent images of children via online file sharing software and they visited his home in November 2016.

Jonathan Edwards, prosecuting, told the court: “He was asked about the hard drive and when discussing it he evidently began sounding stressed and asked to speak to them in private [away from his parents].”

Cox told officers there would be indecent images of children on his hard drive but that he had not deliberately searched for them and that they were among packs of adult porn he had downloaded once a day to feed his porn habit he picked up at the age 12.

He said he had tried to delete the indecent images on the hard drive.

Police found 198 videos and two still images of category A – the highest level of abuse.

They also found 285 videos and 15 stills of category B and 400 still category C images.

The victims in the images were aged ten to 14.

The prosecution said they found no evidence of Cox attempting to search child abuse websites or purposefully downloading the files.

Daniel Frier, defending, told the court: “From the moment he was arrested he accepted there were indecent images of children on his computer, albeit in the context of for two to three hours a day for years downloading huge amounts of adult pornography in bulk packages.

“They were in amongst the bulk downloads.

“The huge majority of indecent images were not even viewed.”

Cox of Fishergate Close, Portslade, Brighton, pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of indecent images.

Judge Waddicor said she rejected his "fanciful" claim that he could not  delete the images, given his background as a computer shop worker. 

She said: “Someone else had corrupted those children and you are part of the exploitation for those children.

“Many people consider this market is one of the reasons it so widespread because people like you end up with it on their computers.

“You are 27 and present as someone that looks a lot older than that, you seem to me to be socially and emotionally immature.”

Despite the starting sentence for the offence being one year in custody, she ruled there was sufficient prospect of rehabilitation to spare him jail.

He was given a 30 month community order, 20 rehabilitation activity sessions, and made subject to the Sexual harm prevention Order (SHPO) restricting his online activity.

He was also made to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register.