Man found with 8,000 indecent child images feared catching Covid in prison
A man who feared catching Covid in prison after a police raid found 8,000 indecent images of children on his computer has escaped a jail sentence.
Andrew Blundell, 62, was found to have downloaded the images over a three-year period, including 958 images in the most serious category, Norwich Crown Court heard.
Blundell, of Church Street, Wymondham, admitted downloading indecent images of children and possession of 49 prohibited images and three extreme porn images between July 2016 and August 29, 2019.
The court heard that Blundell had a previous conviction for possessing indecent images of children back in 2003, and had been jailed for six months.
Lynne Shirley, prosecuting, said there were in total more than 8,000 images although there was no suggestion that Blundell had distributed any of the hundreds of images he had downloaded.
Recorder Guy Ayers imposed a 16-month jail sentence, suspended for 21 months, and placed him on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
He will also attend a sex offenders’ treatment programme and do 80 hours unpaid work.
