Bridgerton actor spared jail after being found with hoards of child abuse images
A stuntman who appeared in Bridgerton has avoided prison after he downloaded hundreds of sick child abuse images and traded them on Instagram.
Kieren Curran, 23, was handed an eight month suspended sentence at Harrow Crown Court after police found photos of children as young as five on his devices.
The West End theatre worker quivered as he discovered his fate having had his home raided by detectives, acting on intelligence about an Instagram account with indecent images of children.
The court heard he was was with his girlfriend when he opened the door to his Ealing home and admitted having the illegal material. He then asked the police "Can we skip this bit?"
Curran cannot commit another crime for two years or he faces immediate imprisonment, MyLondon report.
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He appeared in Bridgerton and a number of other productions (MyLondon / BPM Media)He appeared as a smartly dressed extra in the Netflix hit and also as a soldier who collides with a character in an iconic battle scene from Sam Mendes's Oscar and Bafta winning war film 1917.
He also has stage credits for the London College of Music and as an assistant director on upcoming Amazon Prime series Red, White and Royal Blue.
Prosecuting Mr Phillips said: "He said I am guilty, I have loads of images in an account. He had used the Instagram account to trade images and said he had a problem... And said he had attempted to kill himself because he hated what he had done."
Police recovered a Macbook, iPhone, and San Disk USB with a total of 293 images, including of children between the age of five and 14 years old.
Mr Phillips said: "There is one moving image in Category A of an eight to 12-year-old girl. There is description of her wrenching and her eyes watering during sexual activity."
Curran said all the devices were his and provided passwords to officers. In an interview he admitted collating the images, but said it was 'a way of self harm to himself'.
The theatre worker downloaded child abuse images, including some as young as five (MyLondon / BPM Media)After two years and one day, Curran was eventually charged with seven offences. These were two counts for Category A, three for Category B, and two for Category C.
Defending Ms Fairbairn said Curran was of previous good character, had shown remorse, and had downloaded a 'relatively small' number of images. Commenting on the charging delay, she added: "That was a very long delay for no real reason and it has been hanging over Mr Curran, giving him anxiety."
"In essence he downloaded a bulk quantity of porn, most of that legal but he accepts some of it was not," Ms Fairbairn said. "His memory of what it was is mainly teenage children and not primary age children. Although he does not dispute what the counts set out, certainly his memory was of teenagers as opposed to very young children."
In his final remarks, Judge Kaplan said: "I must leave you in no doubt of the serious nature of these type of offences and make it very clear to you that I think you now accept these are most certainly not victimless crimes and the court is most concerned about the nature and number of photographs in these offences."
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Judge Kaplan said the "appalling offences" automatically deserved a prison sentence, but he determined Curran's good character and time spent on bail meant he was not an immediate danger to the public.
Whimpering in his blue suit and burgundy tie, Curran shook as he was spared eight months in jail by Judge Kaplan who suspended the sentence for two years.
Curran was given eight months suspended for two years for two counts of Category A, three months suspended for two years for two counts of Category B, and one month suspended for two years for two counts of Category C.
He was also ordered to pay £494 in costs, to do 40 hours of unpaid work, 30 days of rehabilitation, and the complete the Horizon programme for internet sexual offenders.
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