'Child porn virus wrecked my life'

A father of three lost his family, his home and his freedom after being falsely accused of storing child pornography on his computer.

Julian Green, 45, endured nine months of being branded a paedophile before it was proved that the 172 images were caused by a computer virus.

Five police swooped on his home with a search warrant in October and confiscated his computer.

A month later he was arrested for allegedly producing indecent images. He spent a night in a police cell, nine days in Exeter prison and three months in a bail hostel.

Mr Green lost custody of his seven-year-old daughter to his exwife, who was also given possession of their three-bedroom house.

He said: "They were treating me as some sort of depraved sex fiend. I had never been in trouble before.

"In cases like this it is not innocent until proved guilty, but the other way round." The breakthrough-came when he was granted £7,000 legal aid to employ a computer expert, who showed in court that the images had been put there by a Trojan Horse virus.

Mr Green, from Torquay, was cleared of all charges at Exeter Crown Court.

He said: "Now I know that everyone with a computer should keep their anti-virus programs up to date. If you don't you could go through nine months of pure hell like me." Mr Green plans to sue the police for compensation.