A PERVERT pensioner caught with hundreds of child abuse pictures told police that he had been advised by a nurse to look at pornography to help his recovery from cancer.

Thomas Cowley initially claimed he had found a flash drive storage device containing the filth - until detectives discovered some of the images matched those on his computer.

He then confessed to downloading the photos but insisted he got no sexual gratification from them - and had been told to do so after having an operation on his prostate.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday how the married 65-year-old has a range of other health problems which a judge said were "not appropriate to air in public".

Cowley's lawyer, Robert Mochrie, said both he and his wife - who sat with him in the dock - understand how serious a matter it is to possess indecent images of children.

Mr Mochrie said his arrest had "destroyed him" and told Judge Peter Bowers that he now has "a complex regime" of medication and therapies to overcome his problems.

The court heard that the sentencing range for the crimes after a trial is four weeks to 18 months in jail, but Mr Teate said: "The question is whether that ought to be suspended."

He told Judge Bowers: "So far as possessing indecent images of children are concerned, very little can be said to mitigate that.

"Mr Cowley, as his wife does, seems to appreciate the harm and distress that those children would have suffered when these indecent images were created, and the fact that by downloading them effectively encourages such behaviour."

Cowley, of Bowes Road, Billingham, near Stockton, admitted charges of making and possessing indecent images of children, and as given a three-month suspended jail term.

Judge Bowers also ordered him to undergo two years of supervision by the Probation Service, go on a sex offenders' treatment programme and sign on the sex offenders' register for five years.

He told Cowley: "I'm not going to berate you at any length, but these are serious matters.

"I have got an enormous amount of background information on your health and personal history which is not appropriate to air in public, and it's important you understand that."

Sue Jacobs, prosecuting, told the court that a total of 578 pictures were found, and when Cowley was arrested claimed to have found the data storage device and put it in his shoe.

Mrs Jacobs said: "In a further interview, he made reference to his numerous health issues, including cancer of the prostate, and said he had been told by a nurse to watch adult pornography."