HONG KONG - A Hong Kong computer technician was Wednesday jailed for eight-and-a-half months for stealing more than 1,000 sexually explicit photos of singer Edison Chen with a string of starlets.

The photos spread across the Internet last year, causing a huge scandal in the celebrity-obsessed but culturally-conservative city and ruining the careers of some of the actresses and singers involved.

Sze Ho-chun, an employee of computer shop Elite Multimedia, had copied 1,300 sex photos from Chen's laptop when the Canadian-born singer-actor took it in for repairs in 2006.

The prosecution said the 24-year-old saved the images of Chen and other local celebrities on a compact disc.

But it was not until February last year that the pictures found their way onto the web and became one of the most searched-for items in Asia, where Hong Kong celebrities are huge stars.

As a result, Chen announced his retirement from the Hong Kong entertainment scene and fled to his childhood home of Canada.

On Wednesday, Sze was sentenced by magistrate Tong Man at Kowloon City Magistrates' Court on three counts of obtaining access to a computer with a view to dishonest gain for himself or another.

Tong said Sze's copying of the images was a breach of trust and that the attention the case had garnered had shown how unpleasant it was to have your privacy invaded.

Sze had been found guilty following an earlier trial, although it was not clear if he posted the images online himself. His lawyer Kevin Tang said outside court Sze would probably appeal the conviction.

The photos, which Chen has admitted taking, showed him in compromising positions with celebrities including Canto-pop star Gillian Chung, actress Cecilia Cheung and former actress Bobo Chan.

The 28-year-old Chen had been one of Asia's biggest entertainment stars. He recorded 16 albums under the EEG (Emperor Entertainment Group) label, of which the latest is 2007's "Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself."

Before his retirement Chen had a cameo role in the 2008 Batman movie "The Dark Knight," and provided a voice for the Cantonese version of the animated children's movie "Shrek The Third."

Chen refused to return to Hong Kong to testify in Sze's trial. Instead, in an unusual move, the court convened in Canada to hear Chen's evidence.

Both Cheung and Chung have gone public in recent months, criticising their former lover.

Chung, whose career as half of Canto-pop duo Twins has collapsed since the scandal, said she had contemplated suicide when the photos appeared.

Earlier this year, a Hong Kong television station received an anonymous letter sent with a gold bullet, warning Chen to stay away from public events if he valued his life.

Hong Kong triads, apparently angered by the damage the scandal has done to the city's entertainment industry, have allegedly offered a 110,000 US dollar reward for the star's right hand, according to local media reports.