Shamed former Kingston Council leader Derek Osbourne has been released from prison - almost a year to the day after he was jailed for downloading and distributing indecent images of children.

The ex-Liberal Democrat leader was released on licence on Tuesday, October 28 – one day short of a full year.

The former Beverley ward councillor was sentenced to two years in prison on October 29 2013, after pleading guilty to 17 counts of making and distributing indecent images.

They included extreme images of children, animals and violence against women, which he posted under the online pseudonym Dave Strider.

The 60-year-old had served the borough for 27 years, before his arrest in June last year.

Over the past 12 months, he is believed to have spent time in Wandsworth and Brixton prisons.

A number of senior Liberal Democrat ex-colleagues told the Surrey Comet they had not heard from Osbourne since his release.

The new Conservative administration has budgeted £10,000 to be spent on an independent report investigating the activities of the disgraced former council leader during his time in post, although a police investigation found no such evidence of illegal activities during his council work.