A MAN who used a council's computer to email a friend pornographic photos of children has had his jail term cut to six months.

Tony Allison, 28, of Eldon Lane, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was sentenced to nine months after pleading guilty on June 6 at Teesside Crown Court to distributing indecent photos of children.

In cutting his sentence, London's Criminal Appeal Court also reduced from ten to seven years the time he must be on the Sex Offenders' Register.

Mr Justice Bell, sitting with Lord Justice Kay and Mr Justice Nelson, said while a custodial sentence was called for, nine months was too long.

The man to whom Allison emailed the photos was fined £100 after admitting possessing indecent pictures.

On November 17, 1997, he used a computer owned by Sedgefield Borough Council to email the images to a friend, a fellow student on a computer course he had recently completed.

There were 15 photos involving eight children, aged from about seven to early teens. Some of the images involved the children having sex with men.

More than two years later, in December 1999, police investigating a burglary at the friend's house found the pictures.

Allison was arrested in January 2000.

The court accepted that nine months was too long, given the case involved a single offence committed some time before by a man who had no relevant previous convictions.

Further, the quantity of material transmitted was relatively limited and no commercial element was involved.