A BEARDED pervert caught with a sickening paedophile manual cannot do unpaid work in normal community service groups, a Swindon court heard.

Simon Masters, 33, was handed a two-year suspended sentence order last year with a requirement to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.

He had been caught with a vile collection of more than 400 indecent images of children and a four-minute step-by-step video guide of how to abuse children and babies.

The order was brought back to Swindon Crown Court by the probation service two weeks ago. They said Masters could not do normal unpaid work sessions – in case he was targeted by other participants.

The judge ordered officers to consider what else could be imposed – such as a curfew – to punish the man.

A fortnight on, Judge Jason Taylor QC was told this week that no progress had been made.

The judge said: “Enquiries were going to be made whether there might be unpaid work in another capacity.

“What I’m happy to do – I say happy, I don’t mean it in a literal sense – is put it back for two weeks.

“I’m not going to shoot the messenger but an explanation is going to have to be provided why nothing was done

”

Judge Taylor told the probation service he was expecting a well-thought out proposal, saying he did not want to see a simple recommendation that the unpaid work requirement was axed.

The case was adjourned to February 24.