A disgraced former police inspector described as "a deeply disturbed man" has been jailed for making and sharing child porn.

Inspector Timothy Ryton, formerly of Folkestone, was sentenced to nine years in prison after being sentenced at Lewes Crown Court in East Sussex today.

The supervisory officer, who had 25 years’ service at Kent Police, was sacked by the force earlier this month for gross misconduct.

He pleaded guilty to nine criminal charges - three counts of distributing indecent images, two counts of voyeurism, two counts of taking indecent videos and two counts of distribution of indecent videos - when he appeared at Crawley Magistrates’ Court in March.

Detectives from Kent Police launched an investigation, after receiving information from Greater Manchester Police who were looking into offences in Stockport.

Ryton owned a mobile phone messaging app with the login 'Hubbabubba71', which was used to share the material.

Officers were able to track places where the phone had been connected to the internet which included the Kent Police network and locations in London, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Rome in 2016 and January this year.

They were then able to use this evidence to cross-reference Ryton's movements and confirm the account belonged to him.

The court was told Ryton carried out the offences on the messaging app while his device was connected to his home internet address between November 5 and 7 last year.

Sentencing Ryton, Judge Niblett described the case as "wholly exceptional".

He described Ryton as a "deeply disturbed man" telling him: "To read and hear your chat logs was chilling and show your acts were deliberately calculated and wicked.

"You represent significant danger to children, especially young girls. This case portrays possibly the worst breach of trust I have ever seen."

He also commended the way Kent Police handled the investigation.

Det Supt John McDermott, who led the investigation for the force's professional standards department, gave examples of the kind of material Ryton had been sharing at a misconduct hearing earlier this month.

The material included sexual abuse of underage girls.

Det Supt McDermott told the hearing that footage deleted from Ryton’s mobile phone and recovered by investigators was “exactly the same” as the material posted online.

The judge also served Ryton with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ruled that two phones belonging to him were destroyed.

Head of public protection at Kent Police, Det Ch Supt Tom Richards, said: "It’s abhorrent that whilst he was a serving police officer, Ryton committed these type of offences. He betrayed the trust placed in him by the public and colleagues.

"Our role is to protect and serve, keep communities safe and safeguard the most vulnerable. Ryton did exactly the opposite and now, quite rightly, will serve his time in prison.

"As well as acting on intelligence received from other organisations, the force has an Anti-Corruption Unit which proactively seeks out and investigates wrong-doing by officers and staff, and anyone falling short of the standards expected will face a robust investigation."

"It’s abhorrent that whilst he was a serving police officer, Ryton committed these type of offences. He betrayed the trust placed in him by the public and colleagues" - Det Ch Supt Tom Richards

An NSPCC spokesman said: “Ryton should have been working to tackle this growing problem, but instead he helped fuel the vile online trade in abuse images.

“Behind each of these images is a child that has been sexually abused and it is right that Ryton has been brought to justice for his depraved actions.

“The creation and distribution of indecent images is an appalling industry and the war on it is only just beginning.

“To help deal with the escalating demand for this material, the NSPCC is calling for every police force in the UK to have a specialist digital child abuse unit, trained to deal with online offences against children."

Ryton, who worked in the control room at Kent Police headquarters in Maidstone, was arrested in January and immediately suspended from his duties pending an internal investigation by Kent Police.

He also broke his bail conditions by possessing a mobile phone capable of accessing the internet.

A search at his bail address discovered a phone hidden under a window ledge, which Det Supt McDermott described as “further incontrovertible evidence of the breach of his professional standards”.

Dismissing Ryton last month, Chief Constable Alan Pughsley said: “His role is to protect and serve to keep communities safe and safeguard the most vulnerable.

“We are here to protect children who are abused in this way, not be complicit and part of the problem. I find these actions simply appalling.”