British tourist in Cambodia receives suspended sentence for posting 'pornographic' photos on social media

'I don't understand about Cambodian law and I am very sorry,' 31-year-old from Harlow tells the court

Daniel Jones, on trial for promoting a pool party with images deemed "pornographic", is escorted by a prison guard at a court in Siem Reap (AFP/Getty Images )

A British tourist was handed a one-year suspended sentence by a Cambodian court for producing pornography, after he posted pictures of a party on social media.

Daniel Jones was one of 10 people who were arrested at the "Let's Get Wet" event in Siem Reap, a popular hub for tourists near the country's famous Angkor Wat temple ruins.

Along with his fellow detainees, the 31-year-old from Harlow, Essex, was accused the group of "pornographic dancing" and violating local standards of decency at the private party.

The court dropped charges against the other nine foreigners - four from the UK, two from Canada, and one each from Norway, the Netherlands and New Zealand - and deported them.

Judge Um Chan Thol however, ordered Jones to serve one month and 22 days of a one-year sentence.

“The accused said he unintentionally produced pornography that affects Khmer culture,” he said.

In the trial's one day of testimony last week, Jones told the court he did not know the pictures he posted on Facebook would offend Cambodian culture.

"I don't understand about Cambodian law and I am very sorry," he said.

He denied that anyone had sex or used drugs at the party.

His defence team has also insisted that the photographs were more than three years old and didn't show any of those arrested.

During the trial, the court was shown a dossier of photos from a pub crawl which prosecutors said were explicit, encouraged sexually provocative behaviour and undermined Cambodian culture.

Speaking after the verdict, his lawyer Ouch Sopheaktra said: "There was no evidence against my client. As a lawyer, I am not happy with this."

Agencies contributed to this report