A JUDGE'S son was among those arrested in a series of swoops on computer child porn suspects.

Peter Hall, 41, son of the late circuit judge George Hall, was among 36 people held by police across the country in Operation Ore, which targeted paedophiles logging on to pay-for-view websites in the US.

Hall, of Reid Park Road, Jesmond, Newcastle, appeared before the city's magistrates yesterday charged with taking or making an indecent photograph of a child.

Hall appeared in court and spoke only to confirm his name, age and address. The case was adjourned and Hall's bail was extended.

The late Judge Hall, a former pupil of Holgate's Grammar School, York, was well-respected on the North-East circuit from 1975 until he retired in 1991, five years before his death.