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A troubled transgender woman caught with explicit bestiality porn on her mobile phone was today spared jail after a judge heard of the heightened risk of suicide for transsexuals in custody.

Dawn Love, aged 55, was caught red-handed with pornographic images of people having sex with horses when she took her phone into an 02 shop to be repaired.

When police searched her car they also found a DVD showing someone having sex with a dog.

Despite having a long list of previous convictions, including two suspended sentences, and the offence crossing the custody threshold, Judge Christopher Critchlow opted not to send her to prison for her own safety.

He heard how there is a much higher risk of transsexual people both attempting to and committing suicide in custody than the rest of the prison population.

Defending, James Bloomer pointed to psychiatric reports which said Love was at a high risk of killing herself if she was sent to prison.

It said that "isolated" Love's chequered mental health history "placed her at an increased risk of suicide" were she to be placed behind bars.

He said she had a history of self-harm and had checked herself into hospital only last December to prevent her from harming herself.

"That risk of suicide if sent to custody is something that concerns the doctor," he said.

"I accept that this is very unattractive material.

(Image: INS)

"There is absolutely no suggestion that Dawn Love exposed anyone else to this material."

At an earlier hearing, Mr Bloomer revealed his client had suffered from suicidal thoughts much of her life, much of which stemmed from issues around her gender.

Love, who was born a man, had a transgender operation in 2003.

Transgender people have a 41 per cent risk of suicide nationally, compared with just four per cent in the general population, experts said.

Mr Bloomer stressed that only two images - albeit showing brutal bestiality - had been found in Love's possession, and despite having convictions for verbal abuse and driving offences, she had no previous history of sexual offences.

"This is a woman who has been her own worst enemy," he said.

"But also someone who was moved out of Hampshire by police in 2011 or 2012 because of the extent of the abuse and harassment from neighbours.

"This is someone whose life has been a carousel."

A jury found Love guilty of possessing extreme porn earlier this year after a trial at Guildford Crown Court.

During the hearing the court heard Love took her phone into the 02 store in Camberley, Surrey, on July 26, 2013 after her e-mails stopped working.

Horrified staff found two video clips called 'Sally Horse' and 'Hannah' showing video clips of women having sex with horses.

Both clips featured a logo reading "zoosection.com."

Love, of Sunbury, Surrey, denied two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images and was found not guilty of possessing the DVD, but guilty of possessing the images found on her phone.

Sentencing her to a nine month jail term, suspended for two years, with a 12-month supervision order, Judge Critchlow said he had taken into account the dangerous effect jail could have on vulnerable Love.

He said: "You have no previous convictions for sexual offences.

"You yourself had a gender reassignment in 2003.

"However you are someone who's been appearing before the courts for various matters, driving offences, possessing a knife.

"Although this crosses the custody threshold, I'm going to impose a suspended sentence.

"You'll know what that is because you've had one before."

Asked if she would be happy to attend a rehabilitative women's programme, Love cheerfully gave the judge a thumbs up.

She had earlier told her barrister that such a programme was "what I've wanted for years."

Kate Mallison, prosecuting, asked for Love's phone to be destroyed.

Judge Critchlow ordered Love to hand over the phone and pay a £100 victim surcharge.