A man who downloaded child pornography while on a suspended sentence for similar matters has again escaped jail.

Anthony Shore, of Newtown, Trowbridge, had thousands of pictures and films stored on his computers when he was arrested in January.

A judge sitting at Swindon Crown Court last Thursday was told the 27-year-old had been put on a 26-week jail term suspended for two years in December 2008.

After hearing he had not been able to complete the sex offenders’ programme he was told to go on, Judge Douglas Field changed his mind and decided not to jail him.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, said the Metropolitan Police was investigating a website involved in child pornography and found an email registered to Shore.

He was arrested and computer hardware taken from his home address was found to have more than 5,000 indecent pictures and films of children. When he was questioned by the police, he accepted he had downloaded the material.

Shore admitted one count of possession and six counts of making indecent images of children.

Miss Marlow said the offences dated from July 16 last year until January 7, meaning he had reoffended during the period of the suspended sentence imposed by magistrates in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

Alex Daymond, defending, said a condition of the earlier sentence was that he should go on a sex offender’s course to address his offending.

After being sentenced, Shore was told no courses were running before the following May, when he left to live in Gloucestershire after getting a job there.

After speaking to probation in the county he was put on a course that was meant to take 35 weeks, but it was crammed into six.

Mr Daymond said the course tutor had told him he was being made redundant and so the course ran from September 25 to October 31, 2009.

He said Shore was an intelligent man but was unable to take it in over such a short period. After a relationship broke down and he suffered a bereavement last year, Shore, who works in marketing, sought solace in viewing the images.

Mr Daymond said it would be wrong to jail him as any sentence would be measured in months, when he could be put on a proper course to address his problems.

Judge Field said: “I was of the view I should pass an immediate sentence of imprisonment because the requirement of you to undergo treatment set out in the suspended sentence had had no effect.

“I have now listened to what Mr Daymond said and I have changed my mind. I am now satisfied the facilities that should have been available to you to have the fullest effect were not.”

He imposed a three-year community order with supervision and a sex offenders treatment programme, and told Shore he must register as a sex offender for five years and be subject to a sexual offences prevention order.