A FORMER British Airways pilot from West Dorset has been found guilty of possessing indecent images of children and arranging child sex offences.


Bartle Frere, 50, from Shipton Gorge, was found guilty of six charges of possessing indecent images of children and two counts of arranging or facilitating the abuse of boys in India at Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday.


The jury, of three men and eight women, failed to reach a verdict on 17 other charges, which Frere denies, and was discharged by Judge Peter Johnson.


Frere was released on bail and placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.
The indecent image offences for which Frere was found guilty by a unanimous jury relate to six DVDs seized by police after they executed a search warrant at Frere's home in November last year.


Police found the DVDs- which show young boys play fighting and wrestling naked in a paddling pool- in Frere's loft.


Frere was also found guilty by a majority of two counts of arranging or facilitating in the abuse of one boy from India.


The jury was shown messages sent by email from Frere to the young boy, arranging to meet up during Frere's visits to the country as part of his job as a pilot with British Airways.


The messages were found by police after they seized 25 storage devices, including computers and mobile phones, from Frere's house last year.


DS Dave Wise, the case officer for Dorset Police, said he was ‘pleased’ with the convictions.