A 35-year-old man who possessed hundreds of indecent images of children has been handed a suspended jail term.

Daniel Brooks, of Stanley Street, Lowestoft, was before Ipswich Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to possessing indecent images.

The court heard police received information that an email address relating to Brooks had accessed images of children and when they turned up at his house in April 2022 his devices were subject to examination.

Brooks admitted possessing 43 category A still images of children, which is the most extreme category.

He also possessed 68 category B and 522 category C images.

The court heard Brooks had one previous conviction, but it was for malicious communication.

In mitigation, the court heard the offences were committed during a period of time when he was suffering from poor mental health.

Brooks also suffered trauma in childhood and he has not been able to work because of mental health issues, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Judge Martyn Levett said: “This is a serious offence because it fuels child abuse and the untold harm of the children who are abused.

“It often has lifelong adverse effects for them and once it is posted on the internet is almost impossible to remove and so children later find out there are pictures of them online viewed many many times.

“Those who possess these indecent images of children only have them for one reason and that is for sexual gratification.”

Brooks was sentenced to 12 months in jail, suspended for two years.

On top of the suspended sentence Brooks must complete 120 hours of unpaid community work and a sexual harm prevention order was also issued with the condition that he cannot have any device capable of accessing the internet without notifying the police.

He must also notify police of any changes to his address and the sexual harm prevention order is to last 10 years.