Langham, 58, admitted he had been arrogant in thinking the law did not apply to him in looking at child pornography and that he realised there was no excuse for it.

He said he recognised part of himself when he viewed the indecent images of children but denied deriving sexual pleasure from seeing them.

Speaking about his emotions after his arrest, Langham sobbed uncontrollably as he told how he came "really close" to committing suicide at his lowest ebb.

Shaking and with his head bowed, he said: "I had a terrifying six months. I just wanted to die and I tried to kill myself. I hated it, I just hated it."

Proceedings were adjourned for five minutes by Judge Philip Statman after Langham sank to his knees in the witness box out of view of the courtroom.

Later questioning focused on claims relating to Langham's relationship with the teenage girl he is alleged to have indecently assaulted.

The court has previously heard that Langham took the girl's virginity in a London hotel when she was 14 while he was performing in Les Miserables at the Palace Theatre in central London.

In his evidence, Langham denied having underage intercourse with her but admitted to one sex session with her when she was 18. He said: "I just remember it as this horrific evening, I'd betrayed my wife, I'd betrayed myself, I'd betrayed my children and I'm not making myself out to be a good guy but it was a particularly awful thing to do."

Langham, of Golford, near Cranbrook, Kent, denies 15 counts of making an indecent photograph of a child between September and November 2005. He also denies six counts of indecent assault and two counts of buggery between January 1996 and April 2000. The case continues.