Langham loses appeal on sentence

Chris Langham starred in comedy dramas Help and The Thick Of It

An appeal by actor Chris Langham for a reduction in 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.

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.

A Court of Appeal spokesman said the appeal was rejected by a judge on Friday.

Langham's solicitor Angus McBride said his client would be renewing an application for leave to appeal.

Mr McBride said: "The single judge has not given leave to appeal but we are today renewing our application for it to be heard before the full court.

"We believe he has an arguable appeal."

Starring role

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.

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.