A PEEBLES pensioner who admitted downloading and possessing indecent images has been jailed for 17 months at Selkirk Sheriff Court.

Peter Martin, 66, pleaded guilty to downloading the images of children at his home in Cross Street between August 5, 2018, and November 13, 2018, as well admitting possession of indecent photos of children.

The court was told Martin was living at a temporary address in Peebles when police visited him as part of a general monitoring and they examined various devices.

There were various search comments about young boys on his laptop and phone.

Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said a detailed inspection of the laptop found 3,284 indecent images, 131 of which were Category B and the rest Category C, which is the least serious.

Defence lawyer Mat Patrick said his client had been remanded in custody since July 3 and had not been keeping good health.

He added that Martin had made no attempt to organise the images into files or share them.

The jail sentence was back-dated to July 3 and Martin's name was placed on the Sex Offenders register for 10 years.