A remorseful Borehamwood man has avoided jail after he was found to have accessed hundreds of indecent images of children.

Gary Cornhouse was also found with extreme footage of a person performing an act of intercourse with live animals when police searched his home in 2019.

St Albans Crown Court heard officers executed a warrant at his address on January 17 that year and found devices with a significant number of indecent images involving children on them.

This involved 18 Category A indecent images of children – the most serious type.

A total of 49 Category B and 786 Category C images of children, as well as 29 prohibited images of a child, were also found.

Among this was sexual content of a person with live horses and dogs.

It was described in the charge as "grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character and a reasonable person looking at the image would think that any such person or animal was real".

The court heard the content was accessed between February 2017 and August 2018.

Cornhouse, of the Campions, appeared in St Albans Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to three counts of making an indecent photograph / pseudo-photograph of a child, possessing an extreme pornographic image and possessing a prohibited image of a child.

In mitigation, the court heard that he apologised to police as soon as they knocked on his door.

The court was told his behaviour spiralled downhill following the death of his mother and he proceeded to download such images, but that it was “no excuse” for his actions.

The court was also told the 58-year-old is working hard to turn his life around since the incident and has been attending multiple therapy sessions.

Cornhouse has also not accessed pornographic material since he was arrested and the court also heard that he has demonstrated a realistic prospect of rehabilitation due to the courses he is voluntarily attending.

Sentencing Cornhouse, Recorder Sprawson said that the offences committed by Cornhouse “were not victimless crimes”.

He warned him that there was a prospect of jail but said Cornhouse had “shown remorse” for his actions.

He also said Cornhouse’s pre-sentence report shows he has been “open and forthcoming”.

Cornhouse was given a six-month prison sentence which was suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to undertake 20 days of rehabilitation, pay £475 in costs and was given a seven year sexual harm prevention order.