TAKING his computer into a Redditch shop for repair led to a 45-year-old man being arrested for having indecent pictures of children and animals.

Wayne Barber said he was having trouble with the power supply but when the machine was switched on, it revealed the indecent images.

Barber, of Dolben Lane, Redditch, who pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court to possessing the pictures, was given a three-year community order and told to attend a sex offender group programme.

He must also pay £340 court costs.

Jennifer Josephs, prosecuting, said analysis of the computer and disks revealed 1,267 indecent pictures of children and 5,729 pornographic pictures and 378 moving images of animals.

Some of the images were on disks and he claimed that a friend had given them to him.

He told police that he had children himself and thought the indecent pictures were disgusting.

Charles Hamer, mitigating, said Barber's actions were motivated by a prurient interest in children.

But Judge Michael Cullum made a 10-year sexual offences prevention order because he was satisfied there was a significant risk of serious sexual harm.

Although the pictures may have given Barber sexual gratification, the real victims were the children who had been abused, said the judge.