THREE men - including a long-serving teacher and a paramedic - are facing up to ruined reputations after admitting possessing child pornography.Retired teacher Edward Underwood, 63, and former Army cadet Paul Wynn, 24, are beginning prison terms after being caught in Operation Ore, a nationwide police crackdown on internet child pornography.

THREE men - including a long-serving teacher and a paramedic - are facing up to ruined reputations after admitting possessing child pornography.

Retired teacher Edward Underwood, 63, and former Army cadet Paul Wynn, 24, are beginning prison terms after being caught in Operation Ore, a nationwide police crackdown on internet child pornography.

A third man appearing at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday, paramedic William Moxham, 59, was spared jail because the images he downloaded were not considered as serious.

Underwood, of BridgwaterRoad, Ipswich, was sentenced to eight months and ordered to serve half the sentence and Wynn, of Howe Road, Haverhill, was given 15 months, half of which was also suspended.

Moxham, of Friar Close, Haverhill, who spent 33 years with the Essex Ambulance Service, was given a community rehabilitation order to combat his sex offending. The three had each admitted 16 charges of making indecent images of children under 16 at an earlier hearing.

Robert Sadd , prosecuting, said police found 1,000 indecent images of children on Underwood's home computer in December last year.

They ranged from children in erotic poses to adults having sex with children and had been taken from internet sites. Sixteen images were put before the court as a representative sample.

Matthew Buckland, for Underwood, said his client had never appeared in court before and "has a great deal of remorse for what he has done".

"He accessed sites and was bombarded with offers and tempted into more serious types of offending," he added.

He said Underwood had trained as a teacher after leaving university and had worked in the Middle East and Africa, including time as a deputy headteacher in Zambia.

He also spent "a considerable period of time" working for schools in Ipswich and Suffolk, teaching in units for disturbed youngsters.

Mr Buckland added: "His life has been ruined by this conviction for this offence. He is in poor health and living a miserable existence. He is aware of the consequences of his actions."

Judge John Holt called the images a "particularly disgusting type of porn" and sentenced Underwood to eight months in jail. He was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

The court heard Wynn had about 800 images on his computer, which were mostly in the more serious category. He downloaded the pictures from internet sites between October 2001 and December 2002 and a representative sample of 16 went before the court.

"He is a young man who needs help and has acknowledged he needs help…he has a serious problem bordering on addiction," said Mr Buckland, for Wynn.

The former Army cadet was ordered to spend 15 months in jail – of which he will serve half – and his licence was extended to three years. Wynn also signed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Moxham, a married father-of-two, was spared prison because the majority of the 3,000 images found on his computer were of children in erotic poses – the least serious category. The images were made between July last year and January this year.

Judge Holt gave him a community rehabilitation order directed by the probation service "to address his sex offending behaviour". Moxham signed the sex offenders' register for five years.

After the sentence, a spokesman for the Essex Ambulance Service said: "When we were notified by the police of the investigation, Moxham was suspended immediately and we co-operated fully with the investigation. He has subsequently left the organisation of his own accord."