A man who downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children as well as extreme pornography involving animals has been given a suspended prison sentence.

James Lancefield, 34, of Station Street, Chatteris, had his home searched by police in April 2017 after a device registered to him was used to upload indecent images of children.

Police found more than 400 indecent images of children and extreme pornographic images.

Officers also discovered searches, including those into child abuse investigations, animal porn and paedophilia.

During a police interview, Lancefield initially claimed his computer had been hacked and a number of other people could have used his devices, including a friend of a friend.

However, further investigations showed his devices hadn't been hacked, and while there was a virus present on one of them, this wouldn't have caused the downloading of indecent images.

Lancefield later changed his plea to guilty to making indecent images of a child and possession of indecent images and was given a six month sentence suspended for two years at Peterborough Crown Court on Thursday (July 11).

He was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years.

The court also heard Lancefield had spent some time looking into UK laws about possession of the sort of material that interested him and had also wanted to find out what had happened to them.

Images running into three figures were found on his computer of humans engaged in sexual activity with animals, mainly dogs and horses.

Apart from completing a three weeks rehabilitation course, the court ordered Lancefield to attend a programme specifically designed for those who use the internal to commit sexual offences.

Judge Matthew Lowe outlined why he had chosen to impose a suspended sentence after warning Lancefield that any repeat offences would inevitably lead to a custodial sentence. The judge felt that a suspended sentence would enable Lancefield to address the underlying issues that he said had caused him to carry out the offences in the first place.

A separate order was made for £300 costs and Lancefield was told this must be paid within the next six months.

DC Caroline Murphy, who investigated, said: "I am glad justice has been served today and we have prevented more children and vulnerable people from being targeted.

"This is a priority area for the force and we will continue to crack down on paedophiles and those looking to exploit children."