A student at the University of Edinburgh has been spared jail after being caught with more than a thousand paedophilic images of under-age girls on his laptop.

Jonathan Wright, a second-year geology student, told police he had downloaded the 1,005 images and 46 videos for a "thrill" and "to see if they were real" when he was arrested last November.

Wright, 19, admitted possession of the images between August 26 and November 17 last year. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and 200 hours of community service at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Friday.

Police confiscated Wright’s laptop from his room in the University’s Warrender Park Crescent accommodation after receiving a tip-off. The Student understands that Wright is still studying at the University.

After the sentencing, a student who met Wright on nights out while living in Warrender Park Crescent told The Student: "At first I thought it was a joke since it seemed so surreal. He seemed like a completely normal person to me. I was shocked and disgusted."

Defence agent Colm Dempsey told the court: "He experienced a traumatic relationship break down and then he engaged looking at adult pornography which deteriorated into looking at these images.

"He seemed to be initially not appreciating his behaviour when interviewed by the police but he has found a greater understanding of these matters.

"He now realises it is not a victimless crime and that his involvement with the images precipitates a demand for this type of material."

While most of the pictures were ranked on the lowest level of the police scale used to determine the severity of paedophilic images, Wright also possessed six on the highest level, and ten on the second-highest.

The court heard: "He said he had downloaded the images because he was curious to see if they were real. He confirmed that he had done this on a number of occasions. He stated between 10 and 20 times.