No jail sentence for man found with child pornography

A man, described in court as "very lonely", has avoided a jail sentence today, for having 71 pornographic images and videos of young girls on his computer.

Father-of-five Hugh Maguire had quit work to care for his elderly mother and downloaded the images of girls as young as four in the year following her death.

The 54-year-old, of Grace O’Malley Road, Howth, Co Dublin pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography at his home on March 5, 2009.

He received a 30-month suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.