A GWENT man who was found to have more than 30 indecent images and videos of children has avoided an immediate jail term.

Colin Perkins, of Bronawelon Terrace, Swyffryd, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday, Wednesday. after admitting three offences of making indecent images on Wednesday, April 5.

The 43-year-old was arrested at his home on Monday, April 3, after an 8am raid.

The court heard Perkins offered no reply when asked by officers if there were any indecent images of children in the house.

Julian Greenwood, prosecuting, said police recovered a Lenovo tower computer which contained 33 indecent still images and videos.

Of the videos, eight were deemed as category A, the most serious level of offending, with seven videos in category B and a mixture of 18 stills and videos in category C.

Mr Greenwood said Perkins had answered “no comment” when asked if he was responsible for making the images on the password-protected computer.

“(Perkins) told officers that he had used the tower computer to watch films, for Youtube and for applying for jobs,” he said.

“He said his preference for pornography was not for child pornography but admitted that he no longer found adult pornography attractive.”

But Mr Greenwood said there has been a “sense of equivocation” in the answers Perkins gave during an interview carried out the following day.

“(Perkins) admitted to being responsible for downloading the images but said that he had no knowledge of doing this,” he said.

“He accepted responsibility for the category B videos but said he hadn’t seen them. When he was shown one of the category A videos he said that ‘he must’ve downloaded it’.

“He said he was naive and reckless.”

Addressing Perkins’ defence council Ieuan Rees, Judge Tom Crowther said he had “a stark choice” to make in his sentence, to which the barrister agreed.

In his statement to the court Mr Rees said his client was unemployed with a three-year-old daughter and would “struggle” to pay any costs.

Prior to sentencing Perkins to eight months in jail, suspended for two years, Judge Crowther described his actions as coming from the “depths of depravity”.

“Every one of those children is a real child that is being deliberately abused to satisfy the market in this material,” he said.

“This market is grown and is maintained by people like you. This was not a victimless crime.”

Perkins, who is now a registered sex offender, will have to complete a course of rehabilitation and 120 hours of unpaid work.