One-time king of glam rock Gary Glitter has been jailed for four months for downloading child porn from the Internet.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, pleaded guilty to 54 counts of making indecent photographs of children. In mitigation, his brief said Glitter was unaware that he was doing anything illegal when he downloaded child porn from the Net.

The judge at Bristol Crown Court is reported to have replied: "You mean this defendant did not think it illegal to have in his possession photographs of little girls being bound, tortured, gagged and sexually abused in a most repellent way?"

The high-profile case mirrors exactly that of teacher Jonathan Bowden, whose appeal was overturned yesterday. Both were arrested following the discovery of pornographic photos downloaded from the Internet when they took hard disks to be repaired.

Glitter had earlier been cleared of four counts of indecent assault on a 14-year-old girl. A major influence on the outcome of that case was the judge's recommendation that the jury carefully consider a £25,000 pay-out that the woman accuser stood to gain from the News of the World if he was found guilty. ®