A VICAR who lives near Knighton was sent to prison for three-and-a-half years last Thursday after police found he owned more than 50,000 indecent images of children.

The Reverend Richard Hart was sentenced at a Merthyr Crown Court sitting in Cardiff after he admitted possessing 56,832 pictures.

The 59-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to 12 charges of making indecent images of children, four charges of taking indecent images and five of owning them on his computer.

He was suspended from his duties as head of eight parish churches in and around Beguildy after officers raided his home in January this year.