A MAN spared jail after accessing child porn on his home computer has been caught with more sickening images.

Jonathan Harris, 24, walked free from court in July last year after 859 indecent images were discovered by an engineer carrying out work on his home computer.

But Newcastle Crown Court heard yesterday how just a few months later, further pornographic pictures of children were found when police raided his home in Norham Avenue, Horsley Hill, South Shields, on October 14.

He confessed to police he had downloaded the images on to a floppy disc while at a training course in Cookson House, South Shields, and later transferred them on to his machine at home.

He told officers he “enjoyed looking at young girls” and claimed there was nothing wrong in what he was doing.

Prosecutor Penny Moreland told the court: “He said he knew he should not have had the pictures but felt there was nothing wrong with what he was doing.

“It seemed natural he said, reminiscent of when he used to be young.”

Harris was sentenced to a community rehabilitation order following his conviction last year and ordered to take part in the probation service’s sex offenders’ group work programme.

But probation officers say because of his “cognitive distortions” regarding children and child abuse, together with his obstructive attitude, he was unable to commence the programme and the order was unworkable.

Defence barrister Ailsa McDonald said: “There was no distribution, there is no evidence images were shown to anyone else, no forwarding of material to other people.

“They were for personal use.”

The court heard how compared to the 859 images discovered at his home in Jarrow last year, officers this time only found about 30, most of which, like the previous batch, were in the least serious category.

Judge David Wood told him: “I accept this material is not the worst of its kind which comes through these courts, although it does include pictures of some very small children indeed.”

The judge sentenced Harris to 12 months behind bars with an extended licence period of a further three years.

This means if he commits any further offences after his release he could spend the remainder of the four year sentence behind bars.

Harris is also the subject of a sexual offences exclusion order which prevents him working with children for the rest of his life.

He must register as a sex offender for life and Judge Wood made a sexual offences prevention order preventing him from accessing the Internet, except in the course of lawful employment, for the next five years.

The judge told him: “You do have a real, ongoing problem.

“You seem to show little remorse for the offences, little understanding of what effect they can have on the children and little perception of the harm this industry does to the children in the course of these images being made.”