Langham jailed for 10 months

Comedy actor Chris Langham has been sentenced today to 10 months in jail for downloading indecent videos of children from the internet. The Bafta-winning star has been held in custody since he was convicted in August.

Langham was arrested in November 2005 after video files were found on a computer, a laptop and an external hard disk drive at his home. Langham admitted viewing them but pleaded not guilty because he did not want to be labelled a paedophile.

They were downloaded between September and November that year, and Langham claimed in police interviews and during his trial at Maidstone Crown Court that he was researching a character he was developing for BBC comedy show Help.

The actor was cleared of charges of indecently assaulting an underage girl as well as two counts of a serious sexual offence.