LONDON (Reuters) - Chris Langham was released from jail on Wednesday after winning an appeal against the length of his sentence for downloading child pornography.
The Appeal Court ruled that the 10-month sentence imposed on the Bafta-award winning actor was too long, and reduced it to six months.
Speaking to reporters after his release, the star of BBC's "The Thick of It" said the court's acceptance that he had no sexual interest in children had been completely ignored in the reporting of his case.
"To set the record straight -- I never paid to look at the material. I saw a tiny number of images of child abuse which I have always said were distressing, sickening and atrocious.
"I looked because I was writing about the subject of child abuse. My own abuse as a child made it important for me to attempt to address this subject in my writing," he said.
"I was wrong to do so, but I believe that the price I have been asked to pay is out of all proportion. My life has been ruined, but my conscience is clear."
The father-of-five had been due for release at the end of December after being jailed at Maidstone Crown Court in September.
In the appeal ruling Dame Heather Steel said that a prison sentence had been inevitable.
Nevertheless, she said that taking Langham's explanation into account, along with his character, the court was satisfied the sentence could be cut. Continued...
British comedy actor Chris Langham has won an appeal to have the sentence reduced in his conviction for downloading indecent images of children from the internet. Originally sentenced to 10 months in prison, Langham's sentence has now been cut to 6 months, and he is set to be released today.

Langham, 58, had been found guilty on 15 counts for downloading child pornography. Police claimed that several images found on Langham's computer were of the worst category, "Level 5" severity. However, Langham claimed that he was using the images for researching a character in a TV series called ''Help''. Dame Heather Steel, one of Britain's most senior female judges agreed that the sentence could be cut.

Langham was arrested in 2005. During his original trial, Langham was found not guilty of indecently assaulting an underage girl. He had appealed his sentence previously, but was rejected in October 2006.