A septuagenarian who had an image saved of a baby girl being sexual abused by a man has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Thomas Chesterman, 79, of Boness Road, admitted possession of child sex abuse images when he appeared before the magistrates in August.

At Swindon Crown Court on Friday, the Wroughton man was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

He must abide by a six month curfew and complete up to 30 rehabilitation days. Judge Jason Taylor QC also ordered he pay £500 costs and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years. He must sign onto the sex offenders’ register for a decade.

At an earlier hearing, magistrates heard detectives were tipped off that an IP address in Wroughton had logged on to a file sharing website linked to the sharing of child sex abuse images.

Police tracked the IP address back to Chesterman’s Boness Road home. They raided the house, seizing computers, USB sticks and hard drives.

Confronted by police, Chesterman said he had been told about the website by a Dutch man. He had installed the programme but claimed he never shared any files.

He said he had clicked on one but had not downloaded any. But when challenged by police he admitted he had looked at the images because he had been inquisitive. Asked if he had watched the vile films he made no comment.