A former aide to Prime Minister David Cameron has been found guilty of five counts of making indecent photographs of children.

Patrick Rock faced 20 charges of making an indecent photograph of a child, including downloading pictures of girls as young as 10 in sexual poses.

The 65-year-old, of Fulham, London, had claimed the 20 images downloaded on to his iPad over three days in August 2013 were not indecent.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court took more than eight hours to convict Rock of five counts. He was acquitted of three similar charges.

Jurors have been unable to agree on 12 other counts and were discharged, meaning the charges will lie on file.

The court heard the youngest of the girls in the pictures was aged 10 years and four months when he downloaded the image, meaning she was even younger when it was taken.

None of the girls were naked in the pictures, but prosecutors claimed they were in “sexualised” poses in revealing clothing, including swimwear and bras.

Rock is due to be sentenced at a later date.