Ex-Coronation Street star Eric Potts avoids jail over abuse pictures of children as young as 11 on his iPad as he admits being obsessed with 15-year-old boys

Published: 11:39 EST, 13 November 2026 | Updated: 11:41 EST, 13 November 2026 A former Coronation Street star has dodged jail after a police raid at his home found child abuse images on his iPad.Eric Potts - best known as Weatherfield baker Diggory Compton - admitted to being obsessed with and attracted to 15-year-old boys.The 61-year-old was handed a 26-month prison sentence, suspended for 30 months, and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which banned him from being alone with any boy under the age of 16 for ten years.Judge Daniel Prowse told him: 'Some of these images and videos featured children as young as 11 or 12.'Each of these children in these videos is a real child somewhere in the world and each of them is either being required to abuse another child or is themselves being sexually abused.'Make no mistake, these images that you have were of children being sexually abused and the impact on them is magnified when these images are shared.'A conversation between you and another man on the application Telegram was also discovered in what is a sexually explicit conversation between you and that other man. 'You say that you are attracted to teenage boys around the ages of 15 and 16.'Officers discovered married Potts had made 83 indecent images of youngsters over a number of years. They also discovered the actor had shared five images. Former Coronation Street star Eric Potts has avoided jail after police found abuse images on his personal devices Potts is best known for his role as baker Diggory Compton, appearing as the character in 50 episodes of the long-running soapPolice raided the married father-of-two's home in October last year after receiving a tip that Potts had uploaded an 'indecent video of a child' to a file-sharing website.They seized Potts' iPhone, iPad, PC and HP laptop and found internet searches had been made on the theme of 'young gay boys'.In all, police found five videos and two images that fell into category A, the most severe kind, 14 images and two videos deemed Category B, and 59 pictures and one video that fell into Category C.In a chat under the name Rob Mitchell to an unknown person, he admitted to being obsessed and attracted to under-age boys.Richard Flook, prosecuting, said: 'The content of that chat between Mr. Potts using the name Rob Mitchell, and another user, it is sexually explicit, and Mr. Potts says, in it that he is attracted to teenage boys aged around 15 and 16. 'He sends images throughout the chat and talks about his fantasies and kinks.'Potts, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to three offences of making indecent images of a child and three offences of distributing indecent images of a child at an earlier hearing.He appeared in the dock at Burnley Crown Court dressed in a suit and carrying a rucksack, with a heavy beard.The Scot, originally from Irvine, Ayrshire, now uses a walking stick after two failed suicide attempts following the raid on his home in Bacup, Lancashire. Rachel Wilson, defending, told the court: 'He is truly and genuinely remorseful for the offences he has committed.'He accepted that it is repugnant and he is disgusted and ashamed of his behaviour.'This case has had a devastating effect on all aspects of his life. His 38-year-long marriage has broken down. It has cost him his relationships with his children, and his career is now non-existent.'There is very little if no prospect of him ever returning to the industry he was once in.'Miss Wilson added that Potts was sexually abused as a teenager by a family member which 'may have impacted on his behaviour'.Potts appeared 50 times on Coronation Street between 2005 and 2006 after a number of guest roles. He has also appeared in Brookside, Casualty, Heartbeat and Doctor Who.