Eric Potts, the actor who played Mr Henderson in the BBC sitcom Still Game, has pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children. The 61-year-old appeared at Blackburn magistrates' court on Thursday, October 1, where he admitted all offences and will be sentenced at Burnley crown court next month.
Details of the offences
Potts, who has lived in Bacup, Lancashire, for 20 years, admitted making 83 images between May 2015 and October of last year. Seven of those images were Category A, the most serious classification, while 16 were Category B and 60 were Category C.
Prosecutors also said he shared five images on a single day, July 16, 2024. He was arrested earlier this year and initially charged with three counts of making indecent photographs of a child and three counts of distributing them.
Investigation and arrest
Prosecutor Safia Hussain said: "Police officers attended the defendants home address and seized a number of devices which included a PC, an HP Laptop and an iPhone. They were taken for examination by the digital forensic unit, and a number of indecent images were found on the devices. The defendant was therefore charged with making and distributing images of Category A, B, and C."
Lancashire Constabulary confirmed the details of his arrest to The Sun. Officers first received information that the user of a file sharing account had uploaded an indecent video of a child to the internet on August 20 last year. Officers from the Internet Child Exploitation Team attended the married father of two's address, which was linked to the account. He was then arrested on suspicion of possession and distribution of indecent images of children.
Although he was subsequently bailed pending further enquiries, more illegal imagery was found following an examination of his devices and he was arrested again. He was formally charged in September this year.
Career background
The Scottish-born actor is also known for playing eccentric baker Diggory Compton in 50 episodes of Coronation Street. Prior to that, he appeared in Channel 4's Brookside for two years from 1998. In 2007, he appeared as Mr Henderson in Still Game, where his character is accused of stealing Pete The Jakey's 'beefy bake' recipe in 1979 and building an empire off it. However, during a court recess, a heavily intoxicated Pete ends up making a private settlement with Henderson, rendering the legal battle pointless and landing Pete right back where he started.
Other TV credits include Casualty, Heartbeat, The Royal, Last of the Summer Wine, and an episode of Doctor Who.
