A soldier caught with indecent images of children will be kicked out of the army and will start over in England with the help of a forces charity, a court has been told.
James Milton, 33, had hundreds of indecent images of children and almost an hour of video footage on devices at his former home.
After admitting to having the illegal images, Milton’s army employment will be terminated but he will receive help from a forces charity, his solicitor told the court.
Milton appeared for sentencing at Inverness Sheriff Court having previously admitted a single charge of possessing indecent photographs or pseudo photographs of children.
Searches of devices seized uncovered 369 indecent images and two indecent videos of children.
Trauma ‘explains’ indecent images of children
Solicitor Clare Russell, for Milton, told the court that her client had suffered trauma as the result of a childhood incident.
She said: “He understands that his behaviour cannot be excused but it can in some way be explained.”
The court heard that Milton’s marriage had broken down as a result of his offending and that his employment with the army would also now be terminated.
However, Milton still expected to receive help from a charity for members of the armed forces.
Charity to help offender
Ms Russell told the court that her client intended to relocate to the south west of England and would be assisted in his new life by an army charity.
She said Milton had taken part in a voluntary programme to address his behaviour and was no longer drinking alcohol.
“He appears to have recognised the error of his ways,” she said.
Sheriff Robert Frazer told Milton he had taken into account all the circumstances as well as his guilty plea and Ms Russell’s representations on his behalf.
As a result, the sheriff said, he had decided a community-based disposal was appropriate.
He placed Milton on a community payback order with three years’ supervision, telling him this was “the maximum period that the court can impose”.
He also required Milton to complete 200 hours of unpaid work in the community and to participate in the Moving Forward, Making Changes programme which he told him was: “Particularly designed to deal with persons such as you and these types of offences.”
Milton, whose address was given on court papers as Kinloss, will also have to comply with conduct requirements, which include notifying his supervising officer of all of his electronic devices capable of internet access, allowing police to inspect those devices when required, and never deleting internet history.
He was placed on the sex offenders register for a period of three years.
A motion for forfeiture of three electronic devices seized at his home was also granted by the sheriff.
