A PSYCHIATRIST who downloaded child pornography from the Internet and made an indecent film of two girls playing in a park walked free from court yesterday.

Nicholas Hill, a senior medical officer with the RAF, had taken on an enormous burden in his professional life working as a consultant psychiatrist at the Duchess of Kent Hospital, at Catterick Garrison, dealing with civilian patients for the NHS and working as a locum for the NHS even when he was on leave. He began to suffer from depression.

Early last year, while browsing on the Internet, he discovered sexually explicit photographs of a child which triggered off memories of assaults he had suffered in Cyprus as a child, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Gordon Aspden, for Hill, said that when he found the pictures on the Internet he contacted the police to seek advice.

Mr Aspden said: "It is not an ingredient of these offences that the defendant committed them for his own sexual gratification. This was not a series of offences committed by a man who is a paedophile, who has a sexual interest in children, but they are symptoms of the serious depressive illness he was suffering from."

Hill, 35, who was based at Catterick Garrison at the time of the offences but is now based at RAF Scrimpton, in Lincolnshire, appeared before the court and admitted one offence of taking indecent photos of a child and five offences of making indecent photos of a child.

Judge David Bryant placed Hill on probation for three years with a condition he receive treatment. Hill was also ordered to record his details on the Sex Offenders' Register for the next five years.

Stephen Ashurst, prosecuting, said Hill's home in Catterick Garrison was searched in August last year. Indecent photos of girls were found on his computer.

A camcorder tape showed a recording which Hill had made of two girls in a park in Leeds a month before. They were fully clothed but one girl was wearing a short skirt and Hill had focused on the girl's crotch area, said Mr Ashurst.

Mr Aspden said Hill, who had attained the rank of Squadron Leader, would face dismissal from the RAF and the General Medical Council would hold a hearing, at which Hill was likely to be suspended if not dismissed as a doctor.