A CRIMINAL law lecturer at the University of East Anglia downloaded more than 1,500 indecent photographs and movies of children over a decade, it has been alleged.

Police officers seized computer equipment from Julian Myerscough’s home in Alexandra Road, Lowestoft, in June last year after being tipped off by the Child Exploitation and On-Line Protection Unit, Ipswich Crown Court heard yesterday.

David Wilson, prosecuting, said about 1,200 of the indecent images found on a floppy disc and computers in Myerscough’s bedroom and office were stills and more than 200 were movies, with some dating back ten years.

Mr Wilson said that 80% of the indecent images were found on a computer in Myerscough’s bedroom and some had allegedly been downloaded the night before the police search.

A timeline created by a computer expert allegedly showed that one evening within three minutes of a pornographic movie being created on Myerscough’s computer, a BBC sports web page featuring 20-20 cricket was viewed followed by files featuring classical music and narrow gauge railways.

Mr Wilson claimed these subjects reflected Myerscough’s interests and the timeline was effectively a “smoking gun” linking him with the offences.

Myerscough, 48, has denied 16 offences of making indecent images of children between 1999 and June 17 last year and four offences of possessing indecent images of children.

The court heard the indecent images found on Myerscough’s computer equipment included stills or movies of boys and girls aged as young as eight and up to the age of 14 or 15 being sexually abused by other children or adults.

“The prosecution says the person responsible for the possession of these images had a long standing interest in child pornography over a 10 year period,” said Mr Wilson.

He said it could be suggested during the trial that the indecent images had been maliciously put on Myerscough’s computers by his former partner, but there was no evidence that she had done anything to bring the material to the attention of the authorities.

After his arrest Myerscough said he had obtained some of his computers secondhand from UEA and denied seeing any images of child abuse on them.

Asked about one of the images which was downloaded the night before his arrest Myerscough denied knowing anything about it.

He also denied using specific search terms for child pornography and confirmed that no-one else had visited his house on the night before the police search.

The trial continues today.

jane.hunt@eadt.co.uk