THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been pictured with a bodyguard who was convicted of attempting to strangle his police officer wife.

Pere Daobry, who himself worked for the Met Police for 12 years, was seen driving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from Frogmore Cottage to Euston station earlier this week.

The revelation will raise eyebrows as Meghan has long championed women's rights and campaigned against gender-based violence. 

Gazette: Harry and Meghan were pictured being driven by the bodyguardHarry and Meghan were pictured being driven by the bodyguard (Image: Press Association)

During the couple's tour to South Africa in 2019 Meghan said in an ActionAid speech that men and boys should be held accountable for their actions. 

In 2016, Daobry, now 51, was convicted of launching an attack on his wife in the bedroom of their Thorpe-le-Soken home.

He escaped an immediate prison term at a hearing at Colchester Magistrates' Court.

During the attack on his partner, a former Essex Police sergeant, he used two hands around her throat after she told him she did not love him anymore.

Immediately after the attack, the 44-year-old called the police and told the 999 call handler: “I want to report an assault and I am the perpetrator.

“I have assaulted my wife.”

When asked by the operator if his wife needed an ambulance, the dad-of-four responded: “Yeah, I tried to strangle her.”

However Daobry - who was married to the victim for two years before the attack - went on to deny the assault but was found guilty after a trial.

He claimed to have used a police-approved choke hold to stop the victim from taking an overdose of prescribed tablets.

But magistrates rejected his evidence “entirely” and found him guilty of assault.

Gazette: Pere Daobry outside Colchester Magistrates' Court in 2016Pere Daobry outside Colchester Magistrates' Court in 2016 (Image: Newsquest)

He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for one year.

Alix Mason, chairman of the bench, said Daobry’s sentence would be suspended because he had no previous convictions and had “the decency” to dial 999 to report the crime.

She said: “This was a very unpleasant assault and she was clearly terrified.

“There is no credit for an early guilty plea. Having said that, we do take note you have no previous convictions and you had the decency to ring 999.”

She also ordered Daobry to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and approved a year-long restraining order.

He was ordered to pay a total of £1,665, including £930 in compensation and £620 in court costs.