A man of "low intelligence" who stored pornographic images of a ten-year-old girl on his camera has been jailed for nine months.

Keen photographer Brownlow Alan Richardson, 56, was caught out when he loaned his camera to a friend.

His defence lawyer described him yesterday as "a bit slow" and suffering from "withdrawal and anxiety", and argued that he should be spared jail.

But sending Richardson to Westgate, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said: "I am of the view that this requires an immediate custodial sentence."

During the hearing, prosecutor Larissa Burgess explained that the defendant took pictures of a friend's baby in January and then gave her his camera.

When the friend went to download the pictures onto her laptop computer, she inadvertently downloaded all the other images on Richardson's camera as well.

According to Ms Burgess, these included an "explicit" collage of the woman's other child when she was aged ten. The girl, who is now 12 years old, had taken the images used in the collage herself on her own camera in May 2008.

The friend also discovered a photograph of what Ms Burgess described as an "unknown man baring his genitals".

She challenged Richardson, a bike mechanic from Hamilton Parish, over the discovery. He replied he had nothing to say and walked off. The friend then called the Police and handed over her laptop. They forensically examined it and arrested Richardson.

He told Police he found the nude pictures of the young girl on her camera during a visit to her home. He then downloaded them onto his own camera and made them into a collage of two indecent images of her upper and lower body.

He claimed he wanted to use the collage to "shame" the young girl into deleting the photographs he found on her camera. He also told officers the indecent photograph of a naked man was, in fact, himself and was only ever intended to be shown to an adult friend.

Richardson pleaded guilty during a court appearance in March to possessing child pornography for the purposes of making it available for viewing by other persons, and making child pornography. Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner remanded him into custody at that time, so psychiatric and psychological reports could be compiled.

Defence lawyer Graveney Bannister told Mr. Warner yesterday: "This case, in a sense, is a tragedy because my client has no previous convictions, he's 56 years old, a skilled mechanic and he has an 18-year-old daughter."

Mr. Bannister stressed that Richardson who still lives at home with his parents is remorseful. According to pre-sentence reports, he poses a low risk of re-offending and his cognitive and social development problems mean he would benefit more from community punishment than prison.

Mr. Bannister complained the defendant has been "ostracised" by his friends since publicity about the case in the newspaper. However, he then called Bill Zuill, the editor of The Royal Gazette, as a character witness. Mr. Zuill, 45, told the Magistrate he has known Richardson all his life as Richardson's mother was a housekeeper for his parents.

"He's a quiet man, I think in some ways painfully shy, but I know that he is hard-working, a gifted cycle mechanic," said Mr. Zuill.

"I can't speak to the offence, and I certainly can't condone the action, but I know both he and his family are God-fearing church-going people, really a fine and respectable family who have done their best to be good citizens throughout their whole lives."

Sentencing Richardson to nine months yesterday, Mr. Warner said he'd taken all the relevant factors into consideration, including Richardson's "low intelligence" and early admission of guilt. The time he has already spent in prison will be taken into account.

Mr. Warner also commented: "Although I am loath to attribute blame to the victim in this case, if I am accepting the evidence that she took the initial photographs then it's clear that she notwithstanding her age her hands are not exactly clean, I put it like that."

However, he said he was satisfied that the defendant played a real participation in terms of his explanation that he retrieved the photos and created the collage.

The case is the first of its type to be dealt with at Magistrates' Court since new legislation was passed a year ago relating to making and accessing child pornography.