A COURT heard how a man's family life has fallen apart after films and photographs of child abuse were found on his computer.

Police raided Martin Greenwood's home in east Cleveland after receiving information that linked it to downloading indecent images.

His laptop contained 138 moving and still pictures, with some of the worst being a child of about two being abused by a man.

Scott Smith told Teesside Crown Court yesterday that 27-year-old Greenwood was ashamed and embarrassed by what he had done.

Mr Smith said it had brought his relationship to an end, and his "erstwhile partner" is refusing to let him see their son.

Greenwood, of Coronation Road, Loftus, admitted three charges of making indecent images of children at an earlier hearing.

He was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to have one-to-one rehabilitation treatment.

Judge Peter Armstrong said the number of images was "relatively small in the experience of the courts" which often deal in hundreds or thousands.

But he told Greenwood: "I hope this is an indicator that it was not your major interest, and the way you describe getting into this through adult pornography is correct.

"This interest, whether it is curiosity or otherwise, needs nipping in the bud. You need assistance, because it's distorted thinking that it is appropriate to look at images like these.

"It is a form of child abuse, because without people looking at images of this kind, there would not be the abuse of the children in the first place."