A SOLICITOR caught with more than 8,000 pornographic images of children has avoided jail after impressing a judge with his determination to overcome his "addiction" to such material.

Child porn was found on computer equipment at Alexander James John's home in Hendy and at the Swansea office in Walter Road where he specialised in conveyancing.

John, aged 57, pleaded guilty to 21 offences of making and possessing indecent images of youngsters when he appeared at Swansea Crown Court on Friday.

Gerald Neave, prosecuting, said John was charged after being arrested at his home in Iscoed Road on April 29.

"As part of a national operation information had been received by the police that he had downloaded, and was in possession of, images of child abuse," said Mr Neave.

Experts who analysed computer equipment owned by the defendant found 8,121 indecent images of children.

Most were still images, but some were movie-type sequences.

Some 7,500 were category one images at the bottom end of the scale of seriousness, the court heard.

Around 280 were adjudged to be category two and three images. But 310 were in category four, and four were category five images which are the most serious.

Mr Neave said that, when questioned, John described how he had begun accessing adult pornography in 2005.

While doing this he accidentally stumbled on a child porn site and later deliberately returned to such sites.

Questioned by the police, John accepted that what he had been doing was completely and utterly wrong.

John Allchurch, in mitigation, said that, in a spirit of co-operation, John had contacted the police two weeks after his arrest to tell them where they would find other images on other equipment he owned.

Mr Allchurch said of John, latterly of Camona Drive, Swansea Marina: "He acknowledges he has an addiction to pornography and he would like some medical help in dealing with this."

Sentencing, Judge Keith Thomas made John the subject of a three-year community order, but directed that he must attend a community sex offenders' group programme as part of it.