A north Wales man who downloaded child pornography off the internet and copied those he wanted to keep onto disks, has walked free from court after a judge said prison would be a "soft option".

The judge at Mold Crown Court said that a probation order would ensure 44-year-old Charles Burnham, who was said to be obsessed with the material, was supervised.

Burnham, from Wrexham, admitted two specimen charges of having indecent photographs of children and two of making indecent photographs of children and was placed on probation for two years.

Judge David Wyn Morgan said that he wanted it publicly understood why Burnham, a chocolate factory worker at Chirk, was not being jailed.

"The reason I am making a probation order is to ensure that the probation service and the public at large have a great deal of supervision over you."

'Disgusting photographs'

"If there were not people like you who wanted to look at these disgusting photographs then they would not be produced for the benefit of persons such as you," he said.

The judge said that to send Burnham to prison would mean that he was unlikely to receive any constructive supervision that might educate him in the error of his obsession with such material.

The appropriate sentence would be one of eight to nine months, he added.

"Simply to commit you to prison is an easy option which doesn't do much to punish you."

Teenage daughter

Judge Morgan said that he did not think it appropriate that Burnham should continue to live with his partner and her teenage daughter and was told that the defendant's brother at Johnstown could offer him a home.

The judge said that he should live at an address approved by the probation service.

Prosecuting barrister Mr Nicholas Williams told the court how police executed a search warrant at the defendant's home in April and found computer equipment in bin liners in the attic.

When the hard-drive was examined by police it was found that pornographic material involving children was there on deleted files.

The images had also been stored on disks.

'Felt terrible'

Burnham told the police that he did not know why he had done it, claimed that he did not like looking at them, knew it was illegal, and felt terrible.

He did not consider child porn to be acceptable, he said.

Defending barrister Mr Des Parry said that his client found it very difficult to come to terms with what he had done.

Burnham was also ordered to register as a sex offender for five years.