SITTING in the solitude of their bed-sits or back bedrooms, logged on to a virtual world which appears cut off from reality, many of those men involved in the world's largest Internet child porn ring found it chillingly easy to convince themselves they weren't doing anything wrong.

They didn't touch the children, they claimed. They didn't harm them. The wife of one of them even argued: "He is innocent in my eyes. He hasn't abused children. He just looked at pictures."

But of course, thousands of children were molested and tortured directly because of these men and their desire to trade in such images. Babies as young as three months suffered because of this market for obscene photographs.

And the Internet, available at the click of a mouse, behind closed doors and away from prying eyes, is the perfect medium.

Through their screens, in the privacy of their homes, these peddlars of child pornography made contact with like-minded misfits and perverts all over the world. "I never had so many friends before. We didn't see it as abuse," said one.

It is this attitude which makes the pitifully short sentences of 12 to 30 months these men received this week, all the more disturbing.

Because locked in their own secretive little worlds, virtually removed from society and its taboos, they and their new-found friends in cyberspace can reinforce each others' twisted views and make believe that logging on to a child pornography site is acceptable, even normal behaviour.

Which is why, on the rare occasions they are caught, the least we expect is that the law should reflect public outrage and anger, making it clear these crimes are repulsive and wrong - and that those who commit them will be locked up for a very long time.

PEOPLE in Saltburn are being asked not to feed the pigeons because of the mess they make. Animal rights activists have been campaigning to save the birds in Trafalgar Square from a similar fate. But let's hope common sense prevails in Saltburn. We inherited three doves, basically glorified pigeons, when we moved five years ago. Stupidly, I fed them. We ended up with 28. Our cars, bikes and scooters, lawnmowers and coal ended up thickly encrusted with bird droppings. The whitish grey gunge hardens like cement and is so acidic it eats metal. The children were getting it on their feet and hands. So, more than a year ago, I stopped feeding the birds - but we still have 18. I'm with London's mayor Ken Livingstone, who called them "rats with wings". Anyone for pigeon pie?

AS a one-time Osmonds fan, my illusions were shattered when I read the apparently wholesome happy family band of the 1970s were actually a dysfunctional clan ruled by their overbearing father. They argued, Donny suffered social phobias, Marie plunged into depression and their father lost all their money. I felt cheated. All my teenage fantasies were based on a lie. But now Jimmy, the baby of the family, is making a documentary about it all, and has restored my faith a little. "For years, we wouldn't talk about anything negative but now everyone is having fun sharing the true story," he says. Now that's more like the Osmonds I remember - always smiling.

JAMIE Oliver shows great wisdom in giving up TV appearances before people get sick of him. If only Dale Winton, Anthea Turner and Carol Vorderman had as much sense.

IF it were up to cinema-goers, Jamie Bell's name would have been up there in the nominations for best actor at the Academy Awards. He shone in Billy Elliot and his dancing scenes will go down in cinema history. So don't despair, Jamie. Just remember that, most importantly, the public loves you.

www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/news/campbell.html