A FORMER soldier and convicted paedophile has been sentenced to three years in jail after downloading and sending on indecent images of children.

Derek Hemphill, 38, also admitted breaching a sexual offences prevention order and possessing an extreme pornographic image.

Hemphill, who is a serving prisoner and already a convicted sex offender, was jailed for a total of three years when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday.

His name will also stay on the sex offenders' register for the rest of his life.

Hemphill was sentenced to two years in jail for distributing images between January 1, 2014 and August 30, 2014.

The dad, who previously lived in Chapel Street North, in Colchester, was also handed an extra year behind bars for the breach after being in contact with a child under the age of 16 without supervision between May 30, 2014 and August, 30, 2014.

Hemphill was also sentenced to 12 months in jail for each of the three other charges of making indent photographs, possessing a prohibited image of children and possessing an extreme pornographic image.

Those offences took place between January 2014 and August 2014 and the sentences will run concurrently.

Hemphill, who was stationed in Germany, was on tour in Canada in 2010 when he was initially caught and jailed in October of that year for downloading indent images of children. 

He was transferred back to Colchester Military Corrective Training Centre to be charged and was given a dishonourable discharge.

This breach is not the first time Hemphill has failed to comply with a court order.

In 2012, he was handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence for failing to let police know his address, under the terms of the sex offenders register.