A BUSINESSMAN who was caught with thousands of indecent images of children – including videos showing babies engaged in sex acts – has been spared jail.

Rakesh Gohel, who runs a successful appliances store, was found in possession of more than 7,000 vile pictures and films when police raided his then home in Warrington.

Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Monday, that Cheshire Police executed a search warrant at the 38-year-old’s address in May 2019 and seized a Toshiba laptop and a memory stick.

Analysis of the devices showed that they contained 17 category A indecent images depicting the most serious abuse of children – including four videos, some of which were around half an hour in length – as well as three category B clips and a total of 7,450 category B pictures.

A further 4,000 ‘borderline’ images were also found on the hard drive.

These materials had been downloaded over a two-year period between 2015 and 2017 via peer-to-peer file sharing.

Illicit images which were viewable to officers showed children aged between eight and 10.

However, other videos which were inaccessible as software had been used to delete them had titles indicating that they showed sex acts involving a baby and a six-year-old boy.

Defence barrister Max Saffman told the court that his client – a director of Bolton-based the Appliance Outlet, a family-run business which sells white goods and electricals – had been forced to leave the home where he lived with his wife and baby son as a result of his offending and is now living with his parents.

Gohel, now of Bolton, was found guilty of three counts of making indecent images and one of possession of indecent images after a trial before the same court in December.

He was handed an 18-month imprisonment suspended for two years.

Sentencing, judge Brian Cummings said: “You worked in the family business and you had some significant knowledge of and access to computer equipment – you used such equipment to access child pornography.

“You thought you had covered your tracks by deleting these materials, but at least some of the evidence was recoverable by the prosecution expert using specialist equipment.

“You have continued throughout to deny these offences and continue to do so.

“The evidence was overwhelming and your explanations are absurd, and were inevitably and rightly rejected by the jury.

“You have presented as a glib liar.

“There is clear evidence of attempts and successful attempts to dispose of evidence.

“But you have little on your previous record and certainly nothing relevant.

“In the end, and not without misgivings, I’m just about persuaded that it’s possible that it would be appropriate to deal with sentencing in this case by way of a suspended sentence order.

“For a period of two years starting today, the sentence of 18 months imprisonment hangs over your head.”

Gohel was also told to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, ordered to undergo a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 25 days and handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Judge Cummings imposed court costs of £3,500 and ordered the forfeiture of the computer and memory stick.