A MAN trawled the internet for indecent pictures of children on his birthday because he was depressed and drank too much, a court heard yesterday.

Christopher Long was caught with more than 300 images on a laptop and hard-drive after police searched his North Yorkshire home in July last year.

The 60-year-old’s internet search history showed he had got some photos from a Russian website and had been looking for girls aged 12 and upwards.

When he was interviewed, he admitted having a keen interest in pornography, but insisted he was not aroused by children and more thrilled by possessing something he knew should not.

He said he had been stressed at work – describing it as “the mad month” – before looking at the child pictures “for a cheap thrill”.

Long, of Boltby, Thirsk, admitted six charges of making indecent images of children and two of possessing prohibited images.

He was given a two-year community order by Judge Stephen Ashurst, who told him: “You knew this material was illegal, and acknowledge, as every right-thinking member of society does, that behind each of those images is a child who has been abused.

“The Probation Service assess you as being a low risk of reoffending, and the fact of your conviction and any publicity is going to reinforce in your mind the need for strict compliance with the law in future.”

Long was also ordered to 30 days of rehabilitation activity, and was put on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

His lawyer, Stephen Hamill, said Long had downloaded images on three occasions, and it was not protracted offending.

“On the face of it, it would appear that external stresses and pressures have culminated in something I would not suggest was a mental breakdown, but caused him to act completely out of character.

“Seven of the nine counts have all happened on one day, on his birthday, with personal depression, having consumed a great deal of alcohol.

“While birthdays are happy days for some people, for the defendant it was a depressing day.”

Mr Hamill added: “While he sought this material out, it was actually a very minor part of what he was looking at. The rest of it was wholly legal.”