A FORMER teacher from Monmouth has avoided jail for possession of child abuse images.

David Hopkins, 72 of Chestnut Court, Wyesham in Monmouth, admitted the charge of being in possession of indecent images of children in the highest category.

On January 11, Gwent Police raided his home and asked if he had any images, which he said he did not.

Emma Harris, prosecuting, said: “Police found USBs which when analysed had 50 category A still images and seven films and 167 category C images."

She added investigations determined Hopkins had used a type of operating system which does not store data, meaning there was no trace of the images on his laptop.

“He admitted that he had looked at the images and admitted looking at the Dark Web,” she said.

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Karl Williams, defending, said that his client co-operated with the police through the investigation.

He said: “He showed remorse in the interview. It is the case that he has accepted and fully admitted gaining arousal in the images but denies being sexually attracted to children themselves.

“He was naïve thinking if it was online and free it was legal. He has disassociated himself from viewing the material.”

Judge Geraint Walters said: “The facts of the case are relatively straightforward. You came on the police radar because they have the means of being able to detect who is accessing information of this kind.

“You have led a productive life as a teacher before you retired. I find it very difficult that a man that intelligent thought for a minute accessing child images was anything other than unlawful.”

He gave Hopkins a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to sign the sex offenders register and be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for seven years. He also has to complete a 30-day rehabilitation course and pay £320 costs and £128 surcharge.