A WIFE who was suspicious that her husband was contacting his previous girlfriend decided to look through his briefcase for evidence.

Deborah Walmsley found four floppy computer discs and because she did not want to alert her husband, Jason Brown, took them to neighbour Maria Blanche and asked to look at them on her computer.

But she was in for a greater shock when she discovered that the discs contained disgusting images of child porn, a court heard.

Paul Valder, prosecuting, said Mrs Blanche happened to be a child care practitioner and informed the police.

But Brown walked free on Thursday after a judge told him he had come within "a whisker" of being jailed.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that when confronted about the matter by his wife, Brown, 39, claimed he had been given the discs by a stranger in toilets in Dover.

Brown, of Ford Road, Hythe, was arrested in October last year. The floppy discs and hard drive on his computer were examined.

Mr Valder said there were various images of children being abused between the levels of two and five. Five is the most serious.

Brown, who admitted eight charges of possessing indecent photos of a child, denied that he had obtained them from the Internet. He also denied having any sexual interest in children.

Brown said he collected computer parts from boot fairs. He admitted he had not been given the discs by a man in Dover toilets.

Peter Alcock, defending, said as Brown's wife sat in court with their child, born in July, that he had suffered mental difficulties. He was now on anti-depressants.

Mr Alcock said Social Services were now having input into his family life. As well as his new baby, his wife, who is registered disabled, had three children.

"They are all of an age that concerns Social Services," he said. "They are happy with the status quo. They are holding a case conference at the close of these proceedings."

Imposing a six month prison sentence suspended for two years, Judge Anthony Balston told Brown: "You have come within a whisker of going to prison. You must know that.

"I find there are exceptional circumstances why I should suspend the sentence in view of not only your own health but your wife's health as well and the involvement of agencies which are unlikely to allow this sort of thing to happen again."

Brown will remain on the sex offenders' register for five years.