Ex-BBC producer denies possessing indecent images of children

A former BBC Wales producer has denied six counts of possessing or making indecent photographs of children, after images were found on four devices that belonged to him.

Dylan Dawes, 50, told police he had "no knowledge" of the images, but said the devices had previously "been left for extended periods" of time at his workplace.

The jury at Cardiff Crown Court were told that more than 6,200 images had been found or recovered, including 192 Category A images.

Dawes, from Cardiff, said he had looked at "adult" pornography in the past, but denied having a sexual interest in children.

Opening the prosecution case, barrister Harry Baker told the jury that the defendant began working at the BBC in 2001.

Over a period of "about 16 years", he said, "the defendant had been downloading child pornography onto four different distinct devices that he owned".

The seized devices included a hard drive, a compact laptop and two iPads.

Baker said that when the defendant was first arrested at his home, in his police interview he denied possessing or making any indecent images of children.

Dawes admitted sometimes taking one of the iPads to his workplace , and said he had also lent the hard drive to colleagues "for purely work-related purposes".

Later, 483 images were found on the four devices belonging to Dawes, with seven of them being Category A images.

Another 5,794 images were recovered by experts and identified as having been on the devices at some point, including 185 Category A images.

When Dawes was again questioned by police, he gave a prepared written statement saying he had "no knowledge of any indecent images that were found on my devices".

He added that he had "never knowingly viewed, accessed or downloaded" child pornography, had "no sexual interest in children" but had "downloaded regular pornography" occasionally in the past.

Dawes also told police that "at various stages, all the devices have been left for extended periods in open plan offices and not in my possession".

However, Dawes answered "no comment" to further police questioning, including why he had previously said that one device had not left his house, and whether he was able to say who had used his device to download child pornography.

Dawes faces three counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child, in categories A, B and C, dated to 28 February 2022 - the day he was arrested and his devices seized.

Three other counts of making an indecent photograph of child, between 2006 and 2022, relate to images the prosecution say were not on the devices at the time of arrest, but were later recovered.

When approached, the BBC confirmed Dawes was no longer employed by the BBC, and that it would not be commenting on an ongoing legal case.

The trial continues.