A FORMER Weyhill pet shop owner has narrowly escaped being jailed for downloading child pornography on to his computer.

Colin Hogan, 63, the former owner of Petsworth, once hit the national headlines when he and his fellow traders slammed the courts for being too soft on three 13-year-old girls accused of terrorising the town centre of Gillingham, Kent, where he has another pet establishment.

But it was Hogan's turn to appear in the dock when police investigating alleged paedophile activities discovered dozens of obscene images of children on his computer system.

For full story, see this week's Haslemere Herald.