Mr L was found with a haul of indecent images after a separate trading standards probe into the sale of vintage porn DVDs on eBay.
He was arrested as checks on his computers and other devices revealed hundreds of pictures – of which 85 were ranked as most serious ‘category A’ images.
Mr L enlisted specialist indecent images lawyers from Stuart Miller Solicitors after being charged with ten counts of possessing indecent images.
The law firm was able to help him avoid an immediate prison term after he made full and frank admissions to his crimes.
A Stuart Miller Solicitors spokesman said: “Mr L immediately accepted the case against him and made it very clear from the outset of the case that he wanted to plead guilty to the allegations against him.
“We identified Mr L’s main objective at the early stages of this case this was to avoid a prison sentence.
“Our focus in the preparation of this case therefore centred on obtaining substantial mitigation from Mr L and securing character witnesses who would assist with the sentencing process.”
Indecent images are categorised into three categories – A, B and C – depending on their severity.
Category A images attract a sentencing starting point of a year in jail before aggravating or mitigating circumstances are taken into account.
Mr L was instead handed a suspended two-year sentence after lawyers’ “substantial efforts” in securing convincing mitigation and enlisting experienced defence counsel.
He was also required to undertake 24 months of supervision focusing on one-to-one internet sex offender work and 80 hours’ of unpaid work.