AN ARMY Major was caught with thousands of indecent images of children when police searched his home at a barracks at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire.

Detectives also discovered that married father Kim Taylor had posed as a woman on the internet and offered paedophiles access to his two imaginary daughters.

The shamed 47-year-old was discharged from the services and lost his home, but it still being supported by the Army by being allowed to see a forces psychiatrist.

Taylor - the veteran of tours of Northern Ireland and Afghanistan - was yesterday (Tuesday, October 20) ordered by a judge to attend an internet sex offenders' treatment programme.

He was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Teesside Crown Court, and put on the sex offenders' register for the next ten years.

Judge Tony Briggs told the father-of-two that he was being spared an immediate jail term because of his good character, service and mental health problems.

Uzma Khan, mitigating, told the court that Taylor could not explain why he sent some of the 3,000-plus images he had downloaded to other online paedophiles.

Miss Khan admitted there is a deviant side to the Army officer, but said he had forged a good career, nurtured a family and worked hard in his community.

After providing a pile of glowing references to the judge, Miss Khan added: "Some people find it incomprehensible he stands before the court on these charges."

Taylor, formerly of Rawlinson Road, Catterick Garrison, admitted 14 counts of distributing indecent images of children and a further 12 of making them.

Judge Briggs told him: "It is unfortunate to see you before a crown court pleading guilty to this catalogue of offences that reflect your dealings over a relatively short space of time with offences relating to the indecent photographing of children.

"It is a little difficult to see why and how you became involved in it, particularly when one considers your background.

"It is perfectly plain from the medical information I have seen that you had a number of seriously disturbing experiences . . . that might explain the otherwise inexplicable offences.

"I accept your medical condition is a significant factor in the commission of these offences, but it is nonetheless that your involvement, for whatever reason, fuels the trade in this vile material."