A WEST Devon man who downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children from the internet has been sent to prison.

Derek Munn-Tyrrell, 51, admitted 15 charges of making almost 600 pornographic pictures between October 2006 and November 2009.

He was a parent-governor at Bere Alston Primary School, but education chiefs stressed no children at the school were put at risk.

Munn-Tyrell, of The Downs, Bere Alston, last week appeared at Plymouth Crown Court for sentencing before Recorder Michael Parroy QC.

At a previous hearing before city magistrates, Lucy Ray, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said police were alerted by credit card payments on the internet and executed a search warrant at his home. They found he had downloaded 594 pictures, of all levels of seriousness.

Miss Ray said that there was no evidence that any of the images had been distributed by Munn-Tyrrell to other paedophiles.

He told police that he had been looking at the sites for between five and seven years and that he was interested in girls aged between eight and 13.

Miss Ray said that he had no previous convictions.

Richard Speer, for Munn-Tyrrell, said his client had paid for access to news sites which had provided him with links to other sites.

Recorder Parroy jailed Munn-Tyrrell for 26 weeks, ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for seven years and imposed a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

He ordered the images to be destroyed and Munn-Tyrrell to pay prosecution costs of £510.

Devon County Council and police confirmed that no children in the local community had been involved in the case.