RESIDENTS of Walney have voiced their outrage on social media after a paedophile was spared jail after pleading guilty to having thousands of child porn images on his computer.

Joshua Leslie Nicholas, of Kennet Road, Walney, was found to have more than 2,500 child porn images on his computer.

Nicholas was in possession of 495 category A images, 279 category B images and 1,906 category C images.

Judge Beverley Lunt, sitting at Barrow Crown Court, spared Nicholas jail term believing that he was "not beyond redemption".

A defence counsel report argued that if sent to counselling there would be a lower chance of re-offending.

It was thought that if sent to prison for a short period of time, exposure to other offenders may have made his condition worse.

However, commenting on Facebook, dozens of Barrow residents expressed their outrage at what they felt was too lenient a sentence.

Barry Anderson said: "As a grandparent who has a nine-year-old granddaughter living on Walney Island I think this judges' decision is appalling."

Karen Beecroft simply said: "Words fail me."

A spokesman for the NSPCC said: "At the heart of all cases involving child pornography there is a real victim – a child which has been abused and treated appallingly in order to meet the demands of paedophiles.

"In cases where someone is guilty of possessing these pictures there is a real danger that the person may continue or escalate their behaviour and pose a risk to children.

"The prime concern when sentencing these individuals should always be to ensure that there is no risk posed to any further young people.

"The most important thing is to ensure there is treatment for the offender and they are monitored to ensure they don’t offend again."

Read more about the sentencing of Joshua Nicholas