Teacher trial begins in Thailand

Christopher Neil was arrested in Thailand after Interpol's public appeal

The trial has begun in Thailand of a paedophile suspect arrested after a doctored internet image was unscrambled using digital technology.

Canadian schoolteacher Christopher Neil was detained last year, after hundreds of photos allegedly showing him abusing Asian boys were investigated.

Interpol reconstituted the pictures with help from German computer experts. If convicted, the 32-year-old - who denies the charges against him - could face 20 years in jail.

He has been charged with sexually abusing a minor, filming the alleged abuse, taking a child without parental consent, and holding the child against his will.

The accused was arrested in Thailand soon after Interpol's unprecedented public appeal.

A doctored image on the internet was unscrambled by police

Photos had been found online in 2004 of a man sexually abusing at least a dozen Vietnamese and Cambodian boys, some as young as 6, but the face of the suspect had been digitally obscured by a swirling shape.

After the images were unscrambled and issued to media for broadcast, investigators received hundreds of tips which led to Mr Neil's arrest on 19 October 2007.