A 72-year-old retired teacher from Monmouth has escaped a jail after police raided his home and found indecent images of children.

David Hopkins of Chestnut Court, Wyesham pleaded guilty at Newport Crown Court on October 28 to possessing indecent images of children in the highest category after police found usb sticks at his home which had 50 category A still images and seven films and 167 category C images.

He initially denied having any images but investigations determined Hopkins had used a type of operating system which does not store data, meaning there was no trace of the images on his laptop.

Emma Harris for the prosecution said that Hopkins admitted that he had looked at the images “and admitted looking at the Dark Web,” she added.

Karl Williams, defending, said that his client co-operated with the police through the investigation.

He said that Hopkins had shown remorse in the interview and had accepted and “fully admitted gaining arousal in the images but denies being sexually attracted to children.

“He has disassociated himself from viewing the material.”

Judge Geraint Walters said: “You came on the police radar because they have the means of being able to detect who is accessing information of this kind.

“I find it very difficult that a man that intelligent, thought for a minute accessing child images was anything other than unlawful.”

Hopkins was given a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to sign the sex offenders register and be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for seven years. He also has to complete a 30-day rehabilitation course and pay £320 costs and £128 surcharge.