A former Dover sales director has been ordered to tackle his addiction to downloading child sex images.

Mark Patman was arrested after police raided his home in River in September after the “vile” pictures were traced to him.

The 52-year-old former boss, who has since left his address in London Road and moved to Cambridgeshire, was questioned by officers.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how illegal images of boys aged 10 to 12 were found on his computer.

He admitted searching for gay pornography using terms like “young boy” and using file sharing software – although there was no evidence he had distributed any, said prosecutor Shanda McAteer.

She said a number of the video and still images were in the worst category.

Ms McAteer said: “One showed a male child aged 11 or 12 being made to perform a sex act and another involved three young boys on a bed, aged between 10 to 12.”

Patman, who admitted possessing the illegal images, told police he was bisexual and had been searching for gay porn.

He was represented at the hearing by Myles Jackman, who specialises in obscenity laws and “sexual freedoms”.

He said: “The defendant said he regrets what he did but admits getting sexual pleasure from looking at the images.”

Judge Simon James ordered Patman to attend 30 sessions aimed at tackling his addiction to the images.

He also gave him a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to pay £500 costs.

The judge told him: “You were found with images of children being sexually abused and raped.

“This is not a case of you having borderline images but of you having images of child sex abuse.

“The only person you are deluding by saying you don’t have a sexual interest in children is yourself.

“With every click of your mouse, people like you are helping children to be abused.”

Patman was also ordered to remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register for seven years.