Ex-BBC producer, 76, who had 800 indecent child pictures is spared jail

Emily Cleary
·3 min read
Retired BBC producer Victor Melleney, 75, of Kensington, west London, arrives at Kingston Crown Court, London, where he is charged with possessing almost 1,000 child abuse images. Picture date: Monday February 22, 2021. Melleney, who worked on shows including Question Time and Panorama, is accused of possessing 832 indecent photographs of minors across an assortment of devices. (Photo by Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images)
Retired BBC producer Victor Melleney was charged with possessing almost 1,000 child abuse images (Getty)

A retired BBC producer has avoided jail despite possessing hundreds of indecent images of children as young as two years old.

Victor Melleney, 76, who worked on top shows including Question Time and Panorama, stored 832 indecent images of children across his laptop, desktop, two hard drives and a WIFI dongle between May 2011 and October 2018.

He gasped in relief as Judge Simon Bryan QC said the two-year prison sentence he was handing him would be suspended due to his ill health.

Disgraced Melleney admitted he was addicted to legal pornography, but said he had no interest in indecent images of children.

When he was arrested at his west London home in 2018 while wearing a dressing gown, National Crime Agency officers found the most "damning evidence" from a portable silver hard drive found in one of the pockets.

Kingston Crown Court heard 612 of the total 832 images were found on the drive, but Melleney insisted he had no idea how the illegal material got there.

Retired BBC producer Victor Melleney, 75, of Kensington, west London, leaving Kingston Crown Court, London, where he appeared in court charged with possessing almost 1,000 child abuse images. Picture date: Monday February 22, 2021. Melleney, who worked on shows including Question Time and Panorama, is accused of possessing 832 indecent photographs of minors across an assortment of devices. (Photo by Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images)
Melleney, who worked on shows including Question Time and Panorama, admitted an addiction to legal porn but denied viewing images of children (Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images)

The total length of the videos found was 104 hours.

The officers also found illegal stun guns belonging to Melleney.

He admitted four charges of possession of prohibited weapons for discharge of noxious gas, namely three tasers and CS gas spray, at an earlier hearing.

A jury acquitted Melleney of intentionally downloading the child sex abuse images but convicted him of possessing indecent images of children.

Judge Bryan QC suspended Melleney's jail term for two years due to poor health and a recent heart attack.

He ordered the pensioner must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement of 40 days, and be listed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

The Judge also ordered the forfeiture and deferred destruction of his devices, as they will form part of the child protection Bichard Inquiry.

Sentencing Melleney, the Judge told him: "You are 76 years old, of poor health due to a heart condition. You had a heart attack and were intensive care for a period.

"A prison sentence would be particularly challenging. I must bear in mind the COVID-19 pandemic and the prison conditions of what would be a relatively short custodial term.

London UK, March 25 2021, Kingston Crown Court Building Exterior With No People
London UK, March 25 2021, Kingston Crown Court Building Exterior With No People

Read More From Yahoo News UK:

Drug driver who knocked down cyclist held by passer-by who pinned him down

Sue Gray inquiry 'to find Downing Street lockdown parties were not criminal'

Prince Andrew facing calls to be stripped of Duke of York title

"I bear in mind there has been a considerable impact on your friends and family. You will have to live with the disgrace and ignominy that you have brought on yourself."

Kieran Vaughan QC, in mitigation for Melleney, claimed that he was convicted of the "less serious offence" as presented to the jury, claimed he was medically vulnerable and said he worked for 30 years with an "unblemished record with the BBC".

He said: "It is not an exaggeration as a consequence of these proceedings he has lost everything dear to him.

"His life has been decimated as a consequence of it. His wife has left him. His eldest daughter does not speak to him at all. His youngest daughter has very little meaningful contact with him."

He added: "He is a lonely man living alone as a consequence of these proceedings. His life is completely unrecognisable now compared to what it was when he was arrested in 2018.

"His fall from grace from where he previously stood has been seismic."

The judge responded: "You might say he only has himself to blame."

Watch: Who are Extinction Rebellion and what do they want?