The content included disturbing videos of children as young as 18 months old being abused.
His barrister told the judge that at the time he downloaded the images in 2022, Taylor-Thompson had been in a “risk-taking” period of his life where he had been open to having weird conversations and curiosities.
“He says it was out of curiosity that he viewed the images,” his barrister Henry Dickson said.
Judge Rosina Cottage KC, sentencing, told him: “When I read the papers in this case, I wanted to send you to prison to punish you, and you would deserve that punishment.
“But I’m not sure it would achieve the aim of preventing you from looking at pictures of babies.”
The judge therefore decided to give him a 20-month suspended prison sentence instead.
She ordered him to complete 80 hours of unpaid work and an iHorizon programme, designed to tackle online sex offending.
Judge Cottage warned him: “I am going to give you an opportunity, one which I don’t think you deserve. I am going to reserve any breach of this programme to me and if you do breach it you will go to prison.”
The News Shopper can now reveal that within months of this sentence Taylor-Thompson was offending again.
On Friday, July 11, he appeared at Bexley Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to having 500 more indecent images of children and hundreds of pornographic images depicting someone having sex with a dog.
Taylor-Thompson also admitted breaching the Sexual Harm Prevention Order made by Judge Cottage by deleting his internet history, possessing multiple unregistered phones, laptops, USB sticks and hard drives, and using a VPN.
Taylor-Thompson was remanded in custody and will be brought back to Inner London Crown Court for sentencing.
