A MAN who downloaded a prohibited image of a child and animal pornography during lockdown has been spared jail.

A court heard David Gill, 60, of Victoria Street, Horsham, had found himself with too much spare time during lockdown.

“This is perhaps a case of the devil will find work for idle hands to do,” the judge told him.

Gill was given a community order at Hove Crown Court after pleading guilty to the two charges.

The first offence related to possessing a prohibited image of a child at Horsham on December 19, 2020.

This offence was created under Section 62 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, and is targeted at non-photographic images. This includes computer-generated images, cartoons, manga images and drawings.

The second offence concerned possessing, on the same day, 100 extreme pornographic images portraying an act of a person performing oral sex and intercourse with a dead or alive dog or horse.

The animal pornography was deemed to be “grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character”.

Nick Saunders, prosecuting, told the court police turned up at the defendant’s home in February 2021 and seized more than 20 devices.

Keith Goodhand, defending, told the court that the “shock and strain” of legal proceedings had had a major impact on Gill and his family, fracturing the defendant’s relationship with his son.

Gill was given an 18-month community order for each offence, to run concurrently, by the recorder Rachel Drake.

These require the defendant to undertake 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 80 hours’ unpaid work. He was also given a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Gill pleaded guilty to the two offences at an earlier hearing.

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