Link to the times uk article:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-harry-s-former-bodyguard-spared-jail-over-child-sex-abuse-images-pn0x8hv82

A former soldier and bodyguard to Prince Harry has been spared jail despite downloading images of child sexual abuse, after a judge praised his “examplary” service record.

Timothy Murfitt, 47, used search terms including “toddler”, “kids” and “baby girl pics” to seek out more than 10,000 images. He was given a suspended sentence at Maidstone crown court by Judge Martin Huseyin, who said: “You spent a great deal of your life protecting people from harm. You had an exemplary military career, you put your own life at risk. Equally importantly, you spent your life working to protect other soldiers from harm.”

The court was told that Murfitt was working in London when police went to his home in Sevenoaks, Kent, in April last year. When officers spoke to him by phone he said he had his laptop and hard drives with him and arranged to hand them over.

Mary Jacobson, for the prosecution, said Murfitt at first claimed that he had been looking only at adult pornography but examination of the drives revealed images of children. More than 250 were in the most serious and second most serious classifications. Hundreds of others featured bestiality.

Ms Jacobson said that Murfitt had been open and honest when interviewed by police, claiming that he had been sent images of children and had continued to search for them. He denied having a sexual interest in children and said he was believed to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time. “He said he had trauma from active service. He said it didn’t excuse him from looking at the images,” she said.

Rebecca Nieto, representing Murfitt, said that Murfitt was “absolutely deeply ashamed” of this behaviour. “There is a deeper psychological issue here,” she said. “He has tried to get help with his mental condition, but has not received much. He got so desperate that his partner actually wrote to Prince Harry.

“There was very little help for soldiers. This is an unusual case. The harm he poses is very low. He has become entrepreneurial. He employs 11 people in his company.”

Murfitt was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for two years and must complete 160 hours unpaid work. He will appear on the sex offenders’ register for seven years..