An investigation to decide the fate of an RAF servicemen caught with child porn on his laptop could take weeks, it has emerged.

RAF Benson initially said a decision on the future of engineer Simon Radcliffe, 26, could have been made as early as yesterday.

But last night base spokesman Nikki Hamilton said: “The process is now likely to take weeks.”

At Oxford Crown Court on Monday, Judge Christopher Compston spared him jail and urged the force not to discharge him from service.

Radcliffe was caught in an online Metropolitan Police operation.