The downfall of the award-winning comic actor Chris Langham was completed yesterday when he was jailed for 10 months for downloading sadistic child pornography. The disgraced star of The Thick of It broke down before he was told by the judge that his life had been ruined by his sexual interest in young children.

His sentencing at Maidstone Crown Court followed a trial where he was found guilty of 15 charges of making indecent images with names such as “bondage 11-year-old”, “Philippine child prostitute” and “Lolita”. During the trial Langham admitted having an extra-marital affair with an 18-year-old fan, but was cleared of charges that he had indecently assaulted her when she was 14.

Judge Philip Statman said that one of the victims was aged about 8, while others were between 11 and 13 years old. “All have had inflicted upon them horrifying sexual abuse and, I want to make this absolutely clear to you, I must think first of those children.

“When one sees their faces, in my judgment, they are vacant and lacking in expression. . . you never ever see the faces of the perpetrators. Your activity took place in the comfort of your own home, no doubt at the time feeling safe in the knowledge that you would never be caught,” he said.

Langham, 58, will serve five months, less the 43 days he has already spent in custody. While awaiting his sentence in prison, he faced death threats and was placed on suicide watch, according to reports.

Langham, who wore a grey suit and bright yellow shirt, broke down in tears, but sat sat for most of the lengthy hearing with his head bowed. When the judge handed him a jail term he stood, but did not appear to react. As he left court he blew kisses at his three adult sons and his father who were in the public gallery.

New details of the sadistic nature of the images that he had downloaded have been released by police this weekend. Two of the clips showed an 8-year-old girl being tied up and sexually abused by her father, detectives said. The young girl has since been identified and rescued. Her father has been prosecuted. There was also evidence that Langham had attempted and failed to download many other videos of child pornography.

Police raided Langham’s home in Cranbrook, Kent, in November 2005 as part of Operation Ore, an investigation into paedophiles paying to access child pornography on American websites. Forensic science experts found more than a dozen video clips of girls as young as 7 being sexually abused, raped and tortured on three computers. The clips, which ranged from three seconds to nearly six minutes, had been created between September and November 2005. During a police interview the actor produced a written statement in which he said that he had downloaded the images while researching the character for BBC2 television show Help.

He claimed that the show was to feature a sex pest called Pedro whose catchphrase was: “I’m only a minor offender.” However, his co-writer, the comedian Paul Whitehouse, told the court that he knew nothing about such a character. In devastating testimony, he told the jury that there would be no need for Langham to look at child pornography as part of his research.

Langham had claimed during the trial that he was not a paedophile, but had downloaded the images because he was trying to understand abuse that he suffered when aged 8.

DCI Paul Fotheringham, from Kent Police’s public protection crime unit, said that despite the actor’s protestations, Langham should be considered to be sexually attracted to children.

“Langham doesn’t like the label, but I am satisfied that he is a paedophile. He was in possession of a 15-minute video with full sound of an 8-year-old girl being sadistically abused,” he said.

Road to ruin

April 1996 A teenage girl watches Langham appear in Les Miserables. He later agrees to give her acting lessons

May 20, 2002 36 people suspected of downloading paedophile images from the internet are arrested

May 2005 After a successful first series of Help Langham and fellow comic Paul Whitehouse discuss introducing a paedophile character. Langham later claims that he accessed indecent images involving child abuse as research

Nov 29, 2005 Langham is arrested in connection with downloading child pornography and later released on police bail

May 10, 2006 Langham is reinterviewed and charged

June 2, 2006 The woman Langham befriended when she was a teenager is visited by police investigating allegations of sexual offences against her

Sept 13, 2006 Langham charged with sexual offences against the woman

July 12, 2007 Trial begins. Langham is accused of ten counts of indecent assault, two counts of buggery and 15 counts of making an indecent photograph of a child. He denies all charges

July 26, 2007 The jury is directed to return not-guilty verdicts on four indecent assault charges

August 2, 2007 Langham is found guilty of downloading child porn but cleared of assaulting the underage girl

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