A Melbourn man has been given a sexual harm prevention order and is to complete 80 hours of unpaid work after admitting to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

Martin Randle, of Bury Lane, was found with indecent images of children on his laptop and a USB stick.

The 54-year-old was linked to an IP address used to upload the images to the internet on September 12 and November 20, 2017.

Cambridgeshire police then carried out a warrant at his house where a number of items were seized, including mobile phones, laptops and a USB stick.

Randle was present while the warrant was being carried out, but made no admissions.

Later, he went to Parkside Police Station in Cambridge for a voluntary interview where he gave no comment to any of the questions.

The seized items were reviewed and a red ACER laptop, belonging to Randle, was found to contain indecent images of children.

In total there were 53 category C images and two category A – the most severe category.

A black USB stick identified as Randle’s was found to have 11 category C images.

When interviewed for a second time Randle refused to answer any of the questions he was asked about the images.

However, he later admitted three counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

On Thursday, at Cambridge Crown Court, he was given a sexual harm prevention order lasting five years, and placed on the UK’s Violent and Sex Offender Register for five years.

In addition he was placed under a 12-month community order and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work.

Detective Constable Tony Harlow from Cambridgeshire police said: “Randle had attempted to delete all trace of the indecent images but, following an examination by the force’s digital forensic unit, we were able to show these images were on devices linked to him – which gave him little room to deny his involvement.

“Child protection is a force priority and we are working hard to keep young people in the county safe.”

In response to the story, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation – a charity which seeks to prevent the sexual abuse of children across the UK, said: “Child protection is a force priority and we are working hard to keep young people in the county safe.

“If you are concerned about what you are looking at online, or the online behaviour of someone you know, you can call the confidential and anonymous ‘Stop It Now’ helpline on 0808 1000 900 for advice, support and help to stop. Or visit get-help.stopitnow.org.uk to find out more.”