The former Winchester judge who downloaded 75 images of child pornography on his home computer escaped jail this week.

David Selwood, of Magdalen Hill, Winchester, was given a 12-month community rehabilitation at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London.

Selwood (70), formerly a £110,000-a-year resident judge at Portsmouth Crown Court, admitted 12 offences of making indecent images and one of possessing indecent photos of children between March and April this year.

Imposing the order, District Judge Timothy Workman said: "The commission of these offences and the convictions recorded are undoubtedly a personal tragedy to him and his family.

"Nevertheless, the courts look gravely upon this type of offence because it involves the exploitation and abuse of children and the first concern must be to them."

Bespectacled Selwood, wearing a black pin-stripe suit and red-spotted tie, bowed to the district judge from the dock at the beginning and end of the hearing.

Amanda Sawetz, prosecuting, had told the court that Selwood issued a statement to police saying he never had a sexual interest in children. "He gave the reason for visiting such sites as curiosity to see how easy it was for someone with limited computer skills to find such images on the internet," she said.

Arrested as part of a nationwide paedophile operation when his credit card was linked to a US child porn website, he was charged at Eastleigh police station.

Indicating that he needed to be "persuaded" to impose a conditional discharge, Mr Workman was told by Richard Hallam, defending: "The reverberations of this case will continue for the rest of his life.

"He's lost his reputation, lost his career by retiring early-the ramifications of him appearing in court will go on for the rest of his life. He's lost considerably, financially-he's lost in every possible way."

Mr Hallam described Selwood as "talented", becoming a crown court judge as a solicitor, which was rare. He had also been a major-general in the Army.

Urging Mr Workman to take into account his client's previous good character, his co-operation with police, the fact he had lost his career and the stress created by media attention, Mr Hallam suggested a conditional discharge could be imposed.

However, Mr Workman said: "The defendant was found in possession of 75 images-by the standards of many of these cases, not a substantial number.

"However, the images were downloaded on a number of occasions over a period of approximately six weeks and I consider that the number of photographs was not insignificant.

"As to the defendant's involvement with the material, I am satisfied that he downloaded the material from the internet solely for his own use and did not play any part in further distributing the material."

Although Mr Workman did not order Selwood to attend the sex offender programme, he ordered him to be placed on the Sex Offender's Register for five years and forfeit the computer, as well as pay costs of £55.

Selwood, who attended the hearing with his wife, Barbara-there are four children and six grandchildren-has been a circuit judge in Hampshire and resident at Portsmouth Crown Court since 1996.

A former head of Hazledon House at Kelly College, Tavistock, in Devon, he could now be stripped of his pension, said to be £33,000 a year.

Following the hearing, Selwood left court, declining to comment, through a barrage of photographers.