A CONSULTANT psychiatrist has been cleared of storing obscene images of children.

But Dr Malcolm Darley, 43, still faces a General Medical Counsel disciplinary hearing.

Unknown to jurors at Liverpool crown court, Darley has since been convicted of kerb-crawling.

The doctor, who was suspended from his job shortly after his arrest for possessing indecent images in April 2007, was picked up by police just over a year later for soliciting.

He was arrested on April 19, last year, for persistent soliciting of women for prostitution from a car and was later fined £300 at Stafford Magistrates Court.

He was also fined £200 for obstruction and ordered to pay £455 in costs.

A spokeswoman for the GMC confirmed Darley, who worked at Wavertree mental health unit Arundel House, remains suspended and faces a fitness to practise hearing.

During his three-day trial, Darley, who also cared for acute in-patients at the Broadoak Unit and specialised in personality disorders, admitted it would be "very difficult" to return to work.

Darley was yesterday cleared unanimously by the jury of seven women and five men of 11 charges of possessing indecent images.

On the judge's directions they also cleared him of 11 further charges of making the images between November 2004 and April 2007.

Darley, now of Wallings Lane, Silverdale, Carnforth, always insisted he was unaware of the pictures which were found after he sent his computer for repair.