A 69-year-old man from Colchester has been spared jail after being found guilty of three counts of making indecent images of children.

Terrance Barton of Ayloffe Road in Colchester was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday, having been convicted by a jury shortly before Christmas of making images – including moving images and some instances featuring children as young as four.

Sentencing, Judge John Devaux said: “You searched for illegal images and you found them,” and quoting a portion of the pre-sentence report added: “he is prone to unthruths,” and “willing to shift the blame onto others”.

Barton was given a 12 month jail sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay costs of £2,500.

He has also been subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and must complete a 20-day rehabilitation programme.

He must forfeit his desktop computer and computer tower.