Celebrity photograper Paul Caffell has been convicted today of taking indecent pictures of a 15 year old girl.

A jury at Gloucester crown court also found the distinguished 68 year old guilty of possessing 981 indecent images of the girl naked or in states of undress.

Caffell, of Stone Ends, Horsley, is still awaiting verdicts on ten further charges which he denied at the start of the trial almost two weeks ago.

These are: two further charges of taking indecent pictures of the girl, four of indecently assaulting her as a 15 year old and four alternatives of indecently assaulting her as a sixteen year old in 2002/3.

When the jury returned guilty verdicts on the two charges this afternoon after more than five hours of deliberation over the last two days they were told by Judge Jamie Tabor QC he could now accept majority verdicts of 10-2 or 11-1 on the remaining ten allegations.

After sending the jury back to resume its deliberations, the judge paid tribute to Detective Sgt Adrian Stratton, who had investigated the case and prepared the evidence for the court.

He said he would be writing to chief constable of Gloucestershire Dr Tim Brain to commend him for his work.

"I know very well how much work is involved in this type of case," said the judge.

"I expect there has been a lot of midnight oil burning. Getting 900 images up is a huge task and I know there has been a lot more work besides that. Well done."

Caffell is renowned for his artistic black and white photography using an old platinum printing process.

He is a friend of Sir Paul McCartney and top photographer David Bailey as well as having worked closely with the late Linda McCartney on her photographic projects.

He printed all Linda McCartney's pictures with the personal approval of Sir Paul and their daughter Mary.

The McCartney family pictures which he produced are to be exhibited at the James Hyman Gallery in London in April together with photos of John Lennon, Jim Morrison and Mick Jagger.

During Caffell's trial several models, including Storm Mortimer, gave evidence that he has always behaved correctly towards them during photoshoots.

The girl at the centre of the case, now a 20 year old woman, had told the court how she first met Caffell when she was nine and moved with her parents to live close to his home.

He later took a portfolio of pictures for her to use to further her interest in drama ansd dance, she said.

But then he began taking scores of nude photos of her in his garden shed studio or nearby woodland. Often she would wear 'props' he kept in his studio such as stockings, blindfolds, long black gloves and a basque.

The girl told the court she had posed nude for him more than 50 times and he paid her £20 each time.

She alleged that Caffell told her he had sex with all his models and when she said she was not interested he said she would be when she was older.

She felt unable to tell him to stop because she regarded him as her 'lifelline' after he took an interest in her, flattering her about the colour of her hair and her transluscent 'Gothic' like skin, she said.

It was not until she went to University that the girl made allegations against Caffell after confiding in friends.

Caffell denied all the girl's allegations, saying that all the nude photographs he took of her were after her sixteenth birthday when she was old enough to consent.

He said he had never laid a finger on her and her allegations of sexual touching were all 'rubbish.' Proceeding.