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Langham loses appeal on sentence | Langham loses appeal on sentence |
(10 minutes later) | |
An appeal by actor Chris Langham to cut his 10-month jail sentence for downloading child pornography has been rejected by the Court of Appeal. | |
The Bafta award-winner was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court last month after he was convicted on 15 counts of downloading images of children. | The Bafta award-winner was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court last month after he was convicted on 15 counts of downloading images of children. |
Langham, 58, had denied the charges, claiming he viewed the images as research for a paedophile character. | |
The jury cleared him of having sex with an under-age girl. | The jury cleared him of having sex with an under-age girl. |
A Court of Appeal spokesman said the case was refused by a single judge on Friday. | |
'Not a paedophile' | |
He said Langham had the option to renew his application but so far had not done so. | |
Langham is due to be released early in the New Year after serving about half his sentence. | |
The father of five, from Golford, near Cranbrook, Kent, is well known for his starring role in the television drama The Thick Of It. | |
At his trial, he admitted viewing the images but denied the charges, saying he was not a paedophile. | |
As well as preparing for a role in the TV series Help, he said he was trying to make sense of sexual abuse he suffered as a child. | |
Langham is currently due to serve about half his 10-month sentence. | |
He was arrested in November 2005 when video files of child abuse were found on a computer, a laptop and an external hard disk drive at his home. |