DISGUST

They have contacted police worried whether their abusers have been given a fair hearing by the former judge who was yesterday spared jail for downloading 75 indecent images of boys aged between eight and 14.

Supt John Fox, head of the county's child protection unit, said Selwood, who presided at Portsmouth Crown Court, was also the judge who presided over a majority of the high profile peadophile cases in the last three years.

He said the fact Selwood, 70, had admitted the offences sent a shudder through the criminal justice system.

Supt Fox, pictured right, added: "I am totally and utterly disgusted on behalf of the victims of crime and the children and their families who have been abused and whose cases went before that particular judge, some of whom feel they might not have had justice.

"We have been contacted by people who have had their cases heard before this particular judge who want to know whether their cases will be reopened. They are concerned that their case might have been affected by outside influences."

"Families have fed back to us that they feel really badly let down by the criminal justice system. That really upsets me.

"We have to live with that but for the families they don't feel confident they got justice.

"The officers from the special investigations department are not only shocked by the fact that he was convicted and by his conviction is now a paedophile, but they are very, very disappointed.''

His comments came after Selwood was handed a 12-month community rehabilitation order at a 45-minute hearing at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London.

As reported in later editions of the Daily Echo, Selwood was handed the order after claiming he had downloaded the sick pictures out of curiosity, not because he had any sexual interest in children.

He was also placed on the sex offenders' register for five years. He had admitted 12 counts of making and one count of possessing indecent photographs of children in March and April this year at an earlier hearing.

District Judge Timothy Workman said he had taken into account the personal tragedy the case had caused Selwood but added the court had a duty to protect the children exploited in the images found on his laptop computer after a raid on his Winchester home in April.

After the hearing investigating officer Jon Hesketh also branded Selwood a disgrace.

He said: "In committing these offences, Mr Selwood disgraced the position of authority he held as a Crown Court judge and also his high standing in the community.

"No one is above the law, regardless of their role or position in life. I hope this case sends a clear message to the general public that the police will pursue and bring before the courts anyone who downloads images of child abuse, whatever their explanation."

That view was backed by leading children's charities who also urged his cases he had passed sentence on to be re-examined.

A spokesman for ChildLine said: "In light of Mr Selwood's conviction, ChildLine hopes that the review of his past cases, undertaken after his arrest, was sufficiently thorough as his authority to make judgements in cases involving offences against children must surely be called into question."

The Crown Prosecution Service said that unless an appeal against a lenient sentence had been lodged with 28 days of it being passed there was no legal way the case could be revisited.

Selwood has also been criticised for holding on to his pension, worth £500,000 over the next ten years, even though he retired on the grounds of ill heath after his arrest.

The government's Office of Constitutional Affairs has no powers to reclaim the money, a spokesman confirmed. Selwood, who left court with his wife Barbara without making any comment to the waiting media, was made a circuit judge after a successful Army career in which he had reached the rank of Major-General.

Selwood, who can still use the title His Honour, is understood to be the most senior judge to have a criminal conviction.

He held military posts in the legal services in Germany and Cyprus before being appointed director of Army legal services in the Ministry of Defence in London in 1990.

He was a recorder until being appointed a circuit judge in 1992 and was made resident judge at Portsmouth Crown Court in 1996, and stepped down on June 2 this year.