A FORMER mental health charity boss who downloaded thousands of images of child pornography has escaped a jail sentence.

Paul Corbyn, the former chairman of Wiltshire MIND, pleaded guilty to downloading the pornography from the Internet, and distributing it.

Corbyn, from Devizes, escaped jail after a court heard he had lost everything after the pornography was found on his computer.

Prosecutor Colin Meeke told Salisbury Crown Court that staff at Devizes Computers and Games found the images when Corbyn took his computer for repair.

Staff found an enormous number of images of children.

Mr Meeke said some were obscene, and at least one was extremely explicit.

Corbyn had tried to send five images to an e-mail address he found on an Internet chat room. He failed the first time, but sent it successfully four days later.

The court heard he stepped down as chairman of Wiltshire MIND after he was arrested.

Michael Richards, defending, said: "This sad case has led to the destruction of this man's life.

"It has affected him, the community he lives in and his role in the community."

Corbyn was sentenced to a two year community rehabilitation order, and was put on the sex offenders' register for five years.