Actor Chris Langham jailed for 10 months

Actor Chris Langham was jailed for 10 months today for downloading child porn.

The 58-year-old Bafta award-winning star, who wept in court during his sentencing hearing at Maidstone Crown Court, downloaded images and videoclips with names such as "bondage 11-year-old", " Philippine child prostitute" and "Lolita".

Langham claimed he was researching a paedophile character for a television drama and said he was trying to make sense of the sexual abuse he suffered as a child, but a jury convicted him last month of 15 counts of making an indecent photograph of a child.

Langham will serve five months, less the 43 days he has already spent in custody.

Judge Philip Statman said one of the victims was aged around eight-years-old, while others were between 11- and 13-years-old: "Some of the children viewed are clearly prepubescent, others are fully developed, some of the children are clearly of Filipino extract.

"All have had inflicted upon them horrifying sexual abuse and, I want to make this absolutely clear to you, I must think first of those children. They are too young to consent.

"When one sees their faces, in my judgment, they are vacant and lacking in expression ... you never ever see the faces of the perpetrators.

"Your activity took place in the comfort of your own home, no doubt at the time feeling safe in the knowledge that you would never be caught."