Child abuse images: Ex-BBC man Victor Melleney sentenced
NCAA former BBC producer convicted of possessing indecent images of children has been given a suspended jail term.
Victor Melleney, 76, who was cleared of a further charge of making indecent photographs a trial last month, was sentenced to 22 months suspended for two years.
Police found a number of Category A - the most serious - images on his computer.
They included ones of children believed to be as young as four being abused.
Melleney, who worked on shows including Question Time and Panorama, told the jury at Kingston Crown Court he had "absolutely" no sexual interest in "horrible" indecent images of children.
He claimed to have downloaded "an awful lot" of pornographic material since becoming "lonely" after becoming the primary caregiver for his two children in the late 1990s.
When officers carried out searches at his homes in Holland Park and Kensington - both in west London - they recovered hard drives from his basement and in the pocket of a dressing gown he was wearing.
Ruona Iguyovwe, from the CPS, said Melleney knew he was in possession of indecent images of children, which were part of a collection "downloaded over years".
Jurors cleared Melleney of two further charges - possession of an extreme pornographic image, and possession of a prohibited image.