Man spared jail after being caught with images of abuse

A MAN has been spared jail after he was caught with thousands of “vile” images of child abuse on his computer.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Joshua Talbot, who was planning a career in the Army, started looking at the material when he was 16 and had more than 5,000 indecent images.

Judge Jeremy Jenkins told the defendant: “You must realise that these are very serious offences.”

The court heard police searched his home in Llanrumney on April 6.

David Pugh, prosecuting, said police found a “large number” of images, including 720 still images and 318 videos of the most serious Category A. The court heard there were 1,425 still and 138 moving images at Category B, plus 2,721 still and 88 moving images at Category C, along with 56 prohibited images.

Talbot, 21, from Clovelly Crescent, Llanrumney, Cardiff, admitted possessing indecent and prohibited images of children.

Laurence Jones, representing Talbot, stressed his client had no previous convictions or cautions.

The court heard Talbot, who is engaged, was planning to follow one of his siblings into the Army.

The judge imposed a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and the defendant’s name will remain on the sex offender register for the next 10 years.

Talbot was given a 10-month jail term, suspended for two years.

The judge also made a two-year community order, requiring him to complete 30 days of a rehabilitation activity and 200 hours of unpaid work.