A former BBC producer has denied downloading thousands of indecent images of children after they were allegedly found on his devices. 

Dylan Dawes was working for BBC Wales when he allegedly downloaded more than 6,000 illegal images of children on four separate devices, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Mr Dawes, 50, told police he had ‘no knowledge’ of the images but said his laptops and iPads were left ‘for extended periods of time’ in an ‘open plan office’.

Harry Baker, prosecuting, said that of the images found or recovered, 192 were classified as category A – the most severe type.

Mr Baker said: ‘During a period of time of about 16 years between December 31, 2006, and March 1, 2022, the defendant has been downloading child pornography, that is indecent images on four different and distinct computer devices he owned.’

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

Mr Baker said that when he was arrested, Dawes denied possessing or making any indecent images of children.

The defendant, who began working at the BBC in 2001, said he had loaned an iPad to a colleague ‘for purely work-related purposes’.

At a second interview, Mr Dawes gave police a prepared statement, saying: ‘I have no knowledge of any indecent images on my devices. I have never been in possession of any indecent images.

‘I have never knowingly used, accessed, downloaded or sought indecent images of children. I have no sexual attraction to children.

‘I have downloaded regular pornography with zip or jpegs. All devices have at times been left for extended periods in open plan offices.’

Mr Dawes refused to answer questions from police – including on how one of his devices contained child abuse images, despite it not leaving his house, the court heard.

Mr Baker continued: ‘He was specifically asked if he knew who had been using his devices to download child pornography onto his devices, and if he could please share details of those persons so they could be investigated.

‘He denied being responsible for the making of those images.’

Mr Dawes, of Canton, Cardiff, pleaded not guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images and three counts of making indecent images.