A MAN found with nearly 600 illegal images of children and extreme pornography on his computer has been spared jail.

Police found the content when they seized hard drives belonging to Donald Kershaw, 51, from his home in Wagtail Close, Westwood Park, Bradford, on February 4 last year.

Prosecutor Robert Stevenson told Bradford Crown Court that Kershaw’s offending was aggravated by the age and vulnerability of the children in the pictures and videos, some of whom were “very young.”

He pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme sexual image. Recorder Tahir Khan QC sentenced Kershaw, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1991, to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years. He must complete 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirement and register as a sex offender for the next ten years.