A COUNCILLOR arrested on suspicion of making a pornographic image of a child has spoken for the first time about his “nightmare” ordeal which left him on the brink of suicide and “dangerously ill”.

A COUNCILLOR arrested on suspicion of making a pornographic image of a child has spoken for the first time about his “nightmare” ordeal which left him on the brink of suicide and “dangerously ill”.

Haverhill town councillor Mabon Dane said his world collapsed last Monday when police stormed his home in the town's Withersfield Road.

But last night he said he would fight to prove his innocence and would claim his life back, despite becoming mentally and physically drained after his arrest.

“I feel as though I have been robbed of my life, but thanks to the support of friends I have slowly been getting myself back on track,” said Mr Dane.

“The last week has been a complete nightmare for me and I have been very, very down.

“I have been unable to eat or sleep, which has had a serious effect on me, and it was only the intervention of the people around me that brought me back from the edge.”

Mr Dane said he was getting ready for work at around 7.45am when police entered and searched his Haverhill flat.

“It was just so horrible,” he said. “At first I thought it must have been some kind of joke. There were lots of officers and I was totally in shock.

“They thoroughly searched my home and then removed my computer

“I was taken to the police station where I was held for a couple of hours before being released. I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.”

Mr Dane, 35, said he has only just started to get enough energy together to begin his fight to clear his name.

He said he has lost around one stone in weight since his arrest, and now fears for his “deteriorating health”.

“I am a complete wreck at the moment, and I will have to put my doctor on standby because I just don't know how much longer my health will hold out.

“The support I have been shown has at least given me the energy to put on a front and walk down the street with my head held high, but although I am slowly bringing things back together, it is as if my body is saying 'no'.”

Mr Dane was propelled into the spotlight recently when he was named as the man behind numerous allegations of misconduct made against fellow councillors.

He also called for a check to be made into the town council's finances, an inspection that would lead to cutbacks and savings in the community to the tune of £5,000.

“With everything else that has been going on, this really could not have come at a worse time for me,” he said.

“It is beyond my ability to sort this out on my own so I now have a solicitor, who I will be working with to gather information and get a strategy together.

“I want to get this all wrapped up as soon as possible but unfortunately at the moment I do not have all the information I need to hand.

“I just have no idea what this whole thing is all about, so I am just going to have to work out what is happening.”

Mr Dane, who has been released on bail to return to Haverhill Police Station on October 18, was first elected as a town councillor in May 2000, and was re-elected for the new north ward in May 2003.

He missed out on a seat at St Edmundsbury Borough Council in the June elections when he polled 376 votes against Gordon Cox's 520 votes.

He said: “People have been so supportive and are in disbelief over these allegations.

“I want everyone to know that I am innocent and that I would just not do something like this.

“The whole thing is a complete nightmare but I cannot allow this to break me and take away my life.

“At the moment all I want to do is keep everything as normal as possible, and I will continue to represent the people in my role as a councillor.

“I fully intend to clear my name and prove that I am totally innocent of these allegations.

“I am gong to fight to clear my record and all I can ask at the moment is that people do not judge me.”