Company director Timothy Wakely has been jailed for a year after a court heard how he distributed child porn over the internet.

The 33-year-old was found with scores of sickening images on his computer and CDs at his family home in Westbury.

Swindon Crown Court heard how jobs at SKT Engineering on the West Wilts Trading Estate where he worked could be at risk if he was sent to prison.

But last Wednesday a judge said he had no option but to impose a custodial sentence.

Stephen Dent, prosecuting, told the court that police in Northamptonshire were searching the Internet for child pornography in November 2002.

A detective was using the file sharing system Kazaa and entered the words 'child lover' into the search window.

Among the hits he got was Wakely's e-mail address and using a feature of the software he looked at other files available for sharing from the same user.

Mr Dent said that the computer threw up a number of files with suspicious sounding names and the officer downloaded a 10-minute video file containing child porn.

The following month Wakely's Kazaa address was searched again before police raided his Hayward Place home in the early hours of Tuesday, April 15, 2003.

In an upstairs room officers found a lot of computer equipment including a CD Rom disc labelled 'porn'.

This contained a file called 'PT' which they believed stood for 'pre-teen' and Mr Dent said contained child pornography pictures and movies of different levels of seriousness.

When he was questioned by police Wakely admitted having the items, but said some had been downloaded by accident and he did not fully understand some of the software.

At a previous hearing he admitted one charge of distributing and one of making indecent images of a child.

James Patrick, defending, said his client had not actively distributed the material but had just allowed other network users to access it on his machine.

He said the images on the disc were put there on one occasion and Wakely thought he had got rid of the disc, but accepted he still had it.

He said that social services had been involved since his conviction and they had not found any problem with him living at home with his wife and children. The court also heard that SKT Engineering had a turnover of £700,000 a year, but liabilities of £200,000.

Recorder Alun Jenkins QC said he had to sentence a company director in the same way he would the lowliest person in the firm.

He said: "I am sorry to say the only sentence I can pass on you, a man of no previous convictions and a man who has never been to prison before, is one of 12 months."

Wakely was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.