Tony Aslett worked at Buckingham Palace as a Visitor Services Warden

Tony Aslett, 52, pleaded guilty to seven counts of making indecent images of children when he appeared at Kingston Crown Court.

The Pagham man was jailed for nine months yesterday afternoon, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

NCA branch commander Mark McCormack said: “People like Aslett are directly responsible for perpetuating the physical abuse of defenceless children by viewing and copying the images and videos.”

Aslett was arrested at Buckingham Palace, where he worked as a visitor services warden, on April 27, 2015.

Throughout the investigation Aslett’s employer cooperated fully and there was no evidence linking his offending to his place of work.

National Crime Agency officers had earlier searched Aslett’s home on March 19, 2015 and recovered two laptops, three USB storage devices and a computer tower.

Analysis showed they all contained indecent images of children, the NCA said.

When officers conducted another search on April 27, 2015 they discovered Aslett had since bought a white Acer tablet which also contained abuse images.

In total, his devices contained 15,116 indecent images and videos of child abuse at levels A (the most serious), B and C.

Analysis showed the indecent images were created between 2009 and 2015.

Aslett’s ex-partner told investigators he spent a lot of evenings alone in his bedroom.

Aslett was charged in December 2015 but repeatedly argued he was unfit to stand trial, the NCA said.

In interview, Aslett remained silent.

Branch commander Mark McCormack added: “Aslett repeatedly claimed he was too ill to stand trial.

“He owned all the devices that contained the depraved images and had amassed his collection over several years.”