A YORK man, who was found with hundreds of pornographic images of children when he collapsed with an epileptic fit, has been jailed for seven months.

Simon Joseph Pearsall, 48, of Margaret Phillipson Court, Aldwark, York, pleaded guilty to ten charges of making indecent images of children and possessing 800 indecent photographs of children.

David Garnett, prosecuting, said that Pearsall had collapsed with an epileptic fit at his home last July, breaking a window. Pearsall suffered a minor head injury and when the police arrived with the ambulance crew, they noticed child porn on his computer screen, York magistrates heard.

He said officers seized the computer as well as floppy discs and CD ROMs, which were analysed by the hi-tech crime unit at Northallerton.

Then, Mr Garnett said, the police were given Pearsall's details as part of Operation Ore, the massive FBI investigation into child pornography on the internet.

Officers searched Pearsall's home and removed 44 more floppy discs. He said that 800 indecent images, including pictures of children having sex, were found in total, which Pearsall had downloaded from the internet.

Mark Thompson, mitigating, said most of the images were level one, which meant they showed children in various states of undress in pornographic poses.

Mr Thompson said that some of the images dated back to 1996 when Pearsall had a computer without CD-ROM. When he replaced his computer he downloaded all of his computer software, including the pornographic images, on to floppy discs.

He said the most serious photographs were unwanted by Pearsall, who he described as a "pillar of the community".

He said: "He is extremely ashamed and embarrassed. He hasn't been able to tell those that he loves, not even his parents.

"I don't think in his heart he could be punished any more than he already has been."

Magistrates ordered that the computer equipment be confiscated.

Updated: 10:12 Saturday, March 08, 2003