A FORMER soldier who planned to “frame” his partner’s ex-boyfriend by downloading child pornography onto his computer has been jailed for six months.

John Broomfield, 28, from Bell Street, Swanage, admitted 20 counts of making indecent images of children.

Prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court, Kerry Maylin said Broomfield had been arrested and two computers seized on July 22 last year.

After the computers were forensically examined, 236 indecent images were found, depicting children and babies.

Ms Maylin said Broomfield had told police he had downloaded the images in a bid to get his partner’s ex-boyfriend “off her back”, adding: “He was going to download them to the other man’s computer, until his conscience got the better of him.”

In Broomfield’s defence, the court was told that he was “anti” child pornography and had been “disgusted” by the images he had made.

After eight years’ exemplary military service, Broomfield had been medically discharged after suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. He was planning to do voluntary work.

Sentencing Broomfield, Judge Samuel Wiggs told him: “I regard your potential use of these images as being particularly serious.”

Broomfield will be on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.