MECHANIC James Thorn has been jailed after his friends found child pornography on his laptop.

The 29-year-old received nine months in prison on Wednesday following his conviction for possessing indecent images.

Police discovered 505 still photos and 14 videos of child abuse when they searched a caravan in Shenington airfield, near Banbury, on May 16.

The vehicle belonged to Thorn, who lives in Wiltshire, but he had repeatedly been told to move it or clear it out by his friend Scott Taylor.

When he failed to do so, Mr Taylor and Thorn’s former business partner Carl Pinnock entered the caravan on May 9.

They found the files stored on an Acer laptop after Mr Pinnock guessed the password, and reported them to police.

Officers also discovered a portable hard drive containing more indecent images and arrested Thorn on June 23 last year.

He denied all knowledge of the files, claiming they must have been put there by somebody else, but was found guilty after a trial which ended on January 21 this year.

Nigel Mitchell, defending, said evidence showed some of the images had been downloaded as far back as 2006.

He said: “On any view this matter has been a considerable shock to him and has been hanging over him for the last two years.

“But he continues to have a relationship with his girlfriend and a good job.”